The (Un)stoppable Threat
by Grillefirer
Summary: Saitama is the world's strongest being, able to defeat any and all threats, no matter how powerful. But what happens when he becomes the threat?
1. The Mysterious Threat

**Author's Notes:** Heyo, i recently got into the OPM fandom, so i decided to write this fanfic. Now, there are some aspects of this which seem like they don't conform with the established canon. Rest assured, that i am going to follow all the established canon strengths and rules(minus the storyline, since this is a fanfic). So please don't rush to the reviews to tell me im wrong,since i'll be clearing up everything in the next few chapters. :)

 **Stinger's POV**

The A-Class hero looked in horror at the scene. Several large buildings had been destroyed, reduced to ruins. Fires were burning everywhere, and lying in the rubble of the once proud city was the limp bodies of two of his fellow A-class heroes.

"Smile Man! Lightning Max!"

"Ah, S-Stinger…" the A class hero Lightning Max coughed weakly, sending a thin dribble of blood down his chin.

"What happened here?"

"Stinger… run, you c-can't beat it…"

"Nonsense! I'm Stinger, ranked 10th amongst A-Class heroes, don't worry, I'll defeat it for you! Now, w-"

Out of the corner of his eye, the A-Class spotted movement as someone dashed towards him.

"Aha, there you are! It's time to show you-"

The last thing Stinger saw was a red gloved fist.

 **Metal Bat's POV**

"Yes sweetie, I promise i'll get Sweet Mask's autograph for you! Yes, so sorry I have to get back to work now, goodbye!"

The S-Class hero sighed and placed his cell phone back into his pocket. The HA had sent out a Demon Class alert, and he had been sent to take care of it. Several other A and B-Class heroes had been called to the scene but it was still running loose.

"Oi, where's the Monster? I promised my Sister I'd take her out today for ice cream and I'm missing it for this, so-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before a lone humanoid figure was thrown at his feet. It was a young blonde man, who was missing his left arm. His once shiny armor was dented and cracked, and his sword, still gripped tightly in his hand, had been broken in two.

"Hey, aren't yer Atomic Samurai's student? What's happenin' here?"

"Metal Bat!" The hero Iaian struggled to his feet, a piece of his chest plate falling off as he did. "You have to get away from here. He's still nearby!" As he said this the hero Tank Top Blackhole crashed into a nearby truck, which exploded.

"What's nearby?"

Iaian looked over the S-Class's shoulder, and his eyes widened in terror.

"Him!"

Metal Bat turned around to see a figure casually strolling towards him. He was a average looking person, dressed in a yellow costume with red gloves. He looked quite young, mid 20s at best, although he was completely bald.

Strangely, from the neck down his body was covered in a strange purplish glow, with none at his head. His eyes were also closed, and a thin stream of drool was dribbling down his chin.

"Hey, yerr that B-class hero at the meeting a few weeks back." The figure didn't answer, instead emitting a growling noise that sounded suspiciously like a snore.

Iaian blinked. "Is he- is he sleepwalking?"

"Not answering me eh? Better show some respect!" With that Metal Bat swung down, smashing his bat onto his enemy's head.

To his surprise, his opponent didn't even flinch, instead just calmly stepping out of the crater he had been pushed into.

"What the-how about another one!" But his strike was blocked by the baldy, the force almost knocking the bat out of his hands. With his other hand Caped Baldy pushed him back, sending him tumbling hundreds of meters down the street.

Damn this guy's tough. The S-Class hero pushed himself up, spitting on his hands as he did. But all I need is a little more fightin spirit. In the distance, his opponent was already running towards him, fist raised.

As the Baldy got within striking distance Metal Bat yelled and unleashed his finishing move.

"Fightin Spirit Dragon Thrash!" The metallic bat lashed out, demolishing several nearby objects and billowing up a cloud of debris from the sheer force. But to Metal Bat's surprise, the Baldy managed to avoid all of them.

He dodged! The S-Class stopped his attack and brought his bat up in a defensive posture, but his opponent disappeared, a faint dust trail the only indication in the direction he had vanished to, which was right behind him.

Metal Bat's eyes widened, and he frantically turned around, but it was too late. With another blow he was sent hurtling through an apartment building and into the side of a statue, his metal bat clattering at his feet.

His enemy appeared in front of him, picked up the bat, and with one swift movement broke it over his knee.

T-that bat was supposed to be unbreakable. How-

He never got a chance to find out, as the bald man's fist impacted him, sending him flying into a nearby building, which collapsed on top of him.

 **Geno's POV**

"Metal Bat has been put in hospital?!"

"That is correct Demon Cyborg." The suited man Sitch sighed, looking over the meeting of all the S-Class heroes, minus Blast, Metal Knight and the out of commission Metal Bat. "And it is not only him, but over the past week 17 C-class heroes, 14 B-class heroes and 5 A-class heroes have been grievously injured. Fortunately, there have been no deaths, but they are all in critical or serious condition and are currently recuperating."

He spread his hands. "We are all gathered here today to discuss countermeasures."

"Why are we wasting time here?" The S-Class hero Rank 2, Tornado of Terror, stood up, a faint green glow surrounding her body. "Lets go hunt him down right now!"

Sitch held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Please do not be rash Ms Tatsumaki. By all accounts whatever it is that attacked them is extremely powerful. Most of the heroes report being defeated almost instantly, and those who managed to fight back state that their attacks, even direct blows, did no damage."

"What does he look like?"

He laced his fingers together. "That is the worst part of our situation, we do not have a description of the Mysterious Being. Many could not last enough to get a good look, and most of the eyewitness reports differ, be it civilian or hero. The only thing most of them agree on is that the Being wore a yellow suit."

The door suddenly slammed open, and a clerk rushed in and whispered something into Sitch's ear.

"Apologies! Correction, we have just gotten a detailed description of the Being from Metal Bat, who has just regained consciousness. He reports that it strongly resembled a bald human, it was wearing red gloves and a yellow outfit with a white cape."

"Oi Genos," the blonde cyborg looked over at Bang, who was frowning. "Doesn't that sound a lot like Saitama?"

The blond cyborg perked up. That does sound exactly like Saitama sensei. Could someone have cloned Sensei and is using his power to fight the Hero Association?

He shook his head and exhaled silently. It was pointless to debate.

We don't have to fight the Mysterious Being, whatever it is, we just need to find them and lead them to Saitama-Sensei. There is not a single threat that Sensei cannot defeat.

"-that case it's settled then." Genos snapped out of his thoughts. "If this Mysterious Being is spotted again, the nearest three S-Class heroes will all converge upon its location, in order to avoid concentrating too much might in one area. In the event that a hero is incapacitated, another nearby one will head to the location to replace him."

 **Sitch's POV**

"Thank you for your time everyone, we shall conclude the meeting here."

As all the heroes filed out the door, the Minister Office of Justice sighed and walked back to the HQ Command Center.

"Are there any new alerts?"

A young suited man ran up to him. "None sir! The whole day has had no Mysterious Beings sightings at all!"

Sitch rubbed his chin. "That's odd. There were none yesterday either. We've never gone so long without any Alerts…"

But apparently that statement jinxed things, as as soon as the words left his mouth another worker stood up and yelled. "Sir! A Dragon Class Mysterious Being has been spotted in Z-City!"

"Get me Atomic Samurai and Demon Cyborg!" Two of his underlings nodded and picked up their cell phones.

"Atomic Samurai, Demon Cyborg, please head to Z-City at once!"


	2. Is It Him?

**Saitama's POV**

The B-Class hero Saitama stood there impatiently as the Dragon Class being known as Black Sperm continued droning on about himself dying.

"9 trillion 999 billion 999 million 999 thousand 999 of me disappearing into nothingness. On the other hand, I am also happy from the depth of my heart."

With a flash, a golden coloured version of Black Sperm was created.

"The 10 trillion merge… my true self makes its deb-"

"That's too long! Shorten it to 20 words or less!" Pulling back his fist, the Caped Baldy punched Golden Sperm in frustration.

His fist impacted the Mysterious Being, causing a huge shockwave which demolished several nearby buildings and cleared the sky of clouds. The golden body flew a few hundred feet away and flopped to the ground lifelessly, its body almost torn apart by the force of the punch.

Several horrified gasps came from beside him.

"That's impossible…"

The Caped Baldy turned to see the last few dozen cells of the Being standing there, looking terrified, surrounded by thousands of his dead cells.

"Is-is this some kind of joke? This is a B-Class hero?"

"No." Another sperm argued, although his voice had a slight tremor. "This is obviously an S-Class in disguise. The Hero Association must be hiding his existence.

"Then what should we do?"

"I say we disperse. There's still 60 of us left, he can't catch us all if we head in separate directions. We'll regroup elsewhere and rebuild our str-"

"Atomic Slash!"

The last few dozen cells were sliced apart in a flurry of sword slices. The pieces lay suspended in the air for a brief moment before falling, revealing a middle aged man in Japanese robes with a sword.

The man's eyebrows furrowed. "You're that B-class hero that Silverfang praised at the meeting."

"Oh! You're that middle-aged hero dude."

The swordsman's eyelid twitched. "I told you I'm only 37." He looked over the carnage. "You did this by yourself?"

"Mm."

"Not bad, you do have potential. The Hero Association must have stated its Threat level wrong though, it couldn't have been a Drag-" his face suddenly hardened, and he looked at Saitama with suspicion.

"Tell me, what were you doing yesterd-"

Ring ring!

The S-Class sheathed his sword and reached into his robes, pulling out a cell phone. "Yes?" Saitama could faintly hear someone yelling something about Demon Class and vampires on the other end.

"Alright." The samurai looked back at him, his eyes conflicted. "Saitama is it? You can leave now, my disciples and I will handle the rest."

"Ok." The B-Class turned around and began walking back to his apartment.

"I wonder if Genos bought Teriyaki sauce."

 **Geno's POV**

The blonde cyborg raced down the streets, frustrated. The Hero Association had provided no information about the supposed threat other than that it was threatening multiple locations at once, and that it was a Dragon Level Threat. He had passed several ruined streets so far but had not seen any Mysterious Beings.

As he shot down another street and rounded a corner he spotted a familiar heat signature, casually walking down the street.

"Sensei!"

"Ah! Genos!" The B-Class looked up cheerfully. "Where have you been? Also, did you get the teriyaki sauce?"

"Sorry Sensei, I was at the S-Class meeting, and came back here when it was reported that there was a Dragon level Threat. I am on my way to nullify it as we sp-"

"Attention citizens, the Threat has been dealt with. You are now free to leave the shelters."

"..."

"..."

"I'll go get the teriyaki sauce now."

"Ok." His Sensei yawned. "I'll go get the cabbages for tonight's dinner. We'll meet back home."

"Yes Sensei!" The blonde Cyborg pulled back his arms, activating rocket thrusts in his shoulders and feet. With a burst of flames they launched him hundreds of feet into the air, and he shot off towards the supermarket.

Several minutes of intense bargaining later, he had secured the teriyaki sauce at minimal cost, narrowly snatching it from the grasp of several other shoppers. His Mission complete, the S-Class flew back to his home.

As he touched down near the doorway, he observed that the door was unlocked. Entering, he was greeted by the sight of his Sensei sprawled haphazardly on his futon, and a large plastic bag of cabbage dropped clumsily beside it.

Moving quietly as so not to wake him up, Genos picked up the bag and walked into the kitchen. A compartment in his wrist opened, and out popped a peeler. After peeling and chopping up the carrots and potatoes, he tossed them into a pot of lightly boiling water. Once they were soft, he would fry them with the teriyaki sauce.

From behind him he heard shuffling and the sound of clothes ruffling, followed by the sound of footsteps.

"Ah Sensei you're awake. Shall I-"

He heard the sound of his Master putting on his boots, before twisting the doorknob and opening the door of their house.

"Sensei are you going out?"

The door slammed shut.

"Sensei?"

But his Master was already gone.

 **Sitch's POV**

"Sir!" The Minister Office of Justice looked over at one of his subordinates, who was frantically pointing at his screen. "One of Metal Knight's drones just spotted something! We have confirmed footage of the suspected Mysterious Being fighting multiple heroes!"

"Where is it?"

"We have pinpointed its location to an abandoned part of Z-City sir!"

"Notify all available heroes to converge on that location at once!"

 **Atomic Samurai's POV**

The S-Class hero raced down the streets, his sword gripped tightly in his hands, his two disciples racing alongside him. As he ran, the swordsmaster cursed himself internally.

Less than an hour ago he had been mere feet away from the Hero Hunter, with easy range of his swords. Rather than recognising him immediately, he had let the Hunter go.

Now not only had he taken down more heroes, but he was no doubt in a more combat ready state. The only good thing was that he was probably tired out from his hero hunting.

I should have sliced him in half when I had the chance.

He growled in determination, his hand tightening on the hilt. Don't worry Iai, I'll avenge you. I shall stain my sword with the blood of that darned Caped Baldy.

As he rounded a corner, he almost collided with an elderly man slowly walking across the street.

"Move out of the- oh ho, Silverfang!"

"Atomic Samurai." The S-Class Rank 3 greeted back. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I'm off to kill the Being that has been hunting down heroes recently. You here to do the same?"

"Yes, but I'm also here for another reason. My Brother sent over too much Wagyu Beef, so I want to invite Saitama and Genos over to help me finish it. Would you and your disciples like to join us?"

"Saitama? You mean B-Class Caped Baldy?"

"That is his hero name, yes."

"I'd advise you not to waste such prime meat on him, Silverfang. He's the Being we've been ordered to put down today."

Silverfang shook his head. "You must have the wrong guy, Saitama would never do anything like that."

He blinked in surprise. "No?"

"No. A lookalike perhaps, or maybe someone is imitating him. It can't be Saitama doing the recent spate of hero hunting."

Bushidrill stepped forward. "Are you sure?"

"No, I am sure of it." The old man looked at the sky. "Goodness, it's getting late. Shall we?"

"Master." Bushidrill stepped forward. "Please don't be distracted from our task. Whether it is Caped Baldy or not, the Being is currently running free, we must cut it down now."

Their Master clenched his jaw, a conflicted yet thoughtful expression flickering over his normally proudly determined features.

"It can't be Saitama eh?"

 **Saitama's POV**

When Saitama had opened his eyes, he had expected to be at home, staring at the ceiling of his house. He had not expected to be standing on the streets, several B and C-Class heroes lying unconscious in front of him.

"What happened here?"

"What the heck do you mean what happened?" Saitama looked down to see a hero with a red nose in shattered armor. "You did this!"

"I did?"

"Of course you d-ack!" The hero passed out, a thin stream of saliva flowing over his bruised face.

 _I must say I'm quite impressed._

Saitama frowned. "Who said that?"

 _My name is-_

"I don't care what your name is but what are you doing in my head?"

 _Nothing of importance to you, except that-_

"Ok." With that he began to pick up the bodies of the heros in front of him.

 _You don't even want to listen to my explanations?_

"You just said that it wasn't important to me."

"Stop right there!"

The Baldy turned around to see five heroes standing in dramatic poses behind him. There was three people in tank tops, a guy with a fancy moustache and fencing sword as well as a man in a hat and a hoodie that said "golden ball".

"Oh. Can you guys help me with this? I can't carry them all to hospi-"

"Backing out now eh?" The man in the hat pulled out a slingshot, and let loose a barrage of small golden balls.

Saitama easily dodged the balls, causing the man's eyes to widen. "Be careful! You almost tore my clothes with that."

"So you're the one who took out my little bro." One of the tank toppers, dressed in a plain blue tank top, stepped forward.

Saitama's forehead furrowed. "Little bro?"

Another one dressed in a tank top adorned with leaves, stepped forward. "Feigning ignorance now that you're staring down Tanktop Master?"

The last tanktopper, who was dressed in a yellow Tanktop adorned with black stripes, cracked his knuckles. "Today, you'll pay for beating up Tanktop Blackhole!"

"Tanktop Blow!" The blue tanktopper spun around and slammed his fist into the ground, sending a ripple through the concrete, causing Saitama to wobble slightly where he stood.

"Isn't that a little rude? The city's wrecked enough already…"

"Tanktop Punch!"

The yellow tanktopper cheered. "The versatility of the tank top doubles the for-" but his yell was cut short as the S-Class tanktopper fist impacted Saitama's face. A soft crack was heard, and the tanktopper cried out and stumbled back.

"M-Master? Are you ok?"

"Let me take care of him!" The man in the suit pulled out a handkerchief from his suit pocket, which transformed into a fencing sword. The thin blade immediately folded in upon itself like a spring.

"Tomboy!" The sword unfurled, shooting towards him. Saitama casually turned to the side, watching the blade punch through a telephone pole before going back to its owner.

"Oi, stop that." But the man simply leapt back, the blade coiling again as he did, and unleashed the sword again. The Caped Baldy sighed and tilted his head slightly, before biting down on the blade, causing it to shatter.

"What do you think you're doing?" All the heroes looked up to see the S-Class ranked 16 hero Genos hovering dramatically above them.

"It's good that you're here Demon Cyborg, you can help us capture him." But to their surprise the Cyborg landed in front of them, cracking the ground as he did, and aimed his weapons at them.

"Why are you threatening Saitama Sensei." The cyborg's tone implied that it wasn't a question, but a warning.

The one with the moustache blinked in surprise. "Sensei? You're his student?"

"Correct."

"Why is a S-Class under a B-Class?"

"We're getting off topic." The blue tank topper stepped forward, still cradling his wrist. "Demon Cyborg, your Sensei is responsible for severely injuring over 40 heroes, including a fellow S-Class."

"Impossible!"

"Look around you. In the past hour alone he has defeated all these heroes."

"Leave now, or I won't forgive you for wasting Sensei's time…"

Saitama sighed. Knowing Genos, he wouldn't let them off until he got a full apology from them, and seeing how angry they were at him that might take hours. And he still had these wounded heroes to bring to hospital. He sighed again, rubbing his stomach. Man I'm starving.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted what looked like a giant bird crouched on the roof of the building. When it realized that it had been spotted it immediately spread its wings and flew away.


	3. Wanted By Both Assocations

**Author's note:** Heyo, my exams are over, and thus so is my self-imposed hiatus. You know what means... MORE UPDATES!

 **Bang's POV**

"Ah, Mr Silverfang!" The S-class martial-artist looked over at his dojo's open door to see an out of breath Hero Association staff member hunched over, panting.

"There is a… emergency at Headquarters. Please Mr Silverfang, please come please come with… me."

"An emergency? I see. Charanko!" The only student in the dojo snapped to attention. "Watch the dojo when I'm away, I'll be back shortly."

The staff member walked out the dojo, the S-Class hero walking beside him. Giving a faint whine of displeasure, the HA staff walked back down the stairs, leading him to a black car with tinted windows.

"So," Silverfang said once he had comfortably adjusted himself on the seat. "What is the nature of this emergency."

"You'll be told once we reach there, Mr Silverfang."the staff member replied briskly, not looking him in the eyes.

 **Geno's POV**

The S-class Cyborg frowned and pulled out his cell phone. For the past few hours he had been fruitlessly searching a park for a reported Mysterious Being.

"Hero Association HQ."

"I can sense no trace of any Mysterious Beings. Are you certain that there is a Mysterious Being in this forest?"

"According to our intelligence, a Demon level threat was spotted in the forest, spotted by several parkgoers. Please keep looking Demon Cyborg! We must contain it before it spreads elsewhere!"

"Very well." The Demon Cyborg fired up his rockets and shot off, scanning for more threats, before abruptly landing, bewildered.

Isn't the park closed today?

 **King's POV**

Ring ring! Ring ring!

The World's Strongest Man picked up his cell phone.

"Hello Mr King?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Sorry to bother you, Mr King. We would like to know whether or not you are planning to travel out of M-City today."

"No, I'm not."

"Thank you Mr King, sorry for all the trouble."

 **Child Emperor's POV**

The S-class child prodigy known as Child Emperor cleared his threat and looked around the briefing table. Around it stood two S-Class Heroes other than himself, Tanktop Master and Superalloy Darkshine. Around them stood several Tanktoppers of various classes, as well as A-class Bushidrill and Okaimatachi. Standing behind him was Sitch and two other staff, here to oversee the briefing.

Sitch cleared his throat. "Ahem." All the heroes present turned to him, and he cleared his threat again.

"First of all, thank you all for your prompt arrival. This threat is one that poses a very real and imminent danger to not only the Hero Association, but humanity at large. We appreciate the urgency in which you have responded to our call." There was a muttering of assent, and the Minister Office of Justice turned to the young S-class in front of him.

Child Emperor pressed a button, and up pop a holographic photo of their target, the B-class hero Saitama, otherwise known by his Hero name of Caped Baldy. "We know from Metal Bat that our target, shown here, is exceedingly strong. He managed to withstand several direct blows from Metal Bat, as well as break his beforehand assumed to be unbreakable bat with relative ease." He let the surprised mumblings die down before continuing.

"We also know he has formed close bonds with fellow S-Class heroes Demon Cyborg, King and Silverfang. We have therefore lured them away as so to prevent them from interfering. Although there has already been damage done, Atomic Samurai has refused to join the operation after Silverfang's favourable testimony, although he did not stop his students from participating. Nevertheless, we needed one more S-class, so sorry to bother you, Mr Darkshine."

The S-class bodybuilder Darkshine shook his head. "It's a pity to let this sort of strength rot as a Monster. If he had stayed a hero he could have become an S-Class with this sort of power."

The S-class 10 year old nodded. "The plan is simple. Metal Knight has agreed to provide four robots. Two of them are each capable of only handling Tiger levels, so they will act as bait, luring him into this area, where there are only four escape routes. The other two, which each are capable of handling a Demon level, will cover route A along with. The available Tanktoppers and Mr Samurai's disciples will cover routes B and C, and Darkshine will cover route D. I will be the reserve as well as coordinating the operation. In addition, all A-Class heroes in the nearby cities have been put on alert."

He looked around. "Any questions?"

"Just one." The bearded swordsman Bushidrill stroked his chin. "Are we aiming to capture, disable or kill him?"

"If possible, do not kill him. We still need to question him to ascertain his plans, as there are reports of him still killing Mysterious Beings. But do not it hesitate to use deadly force if required."

"Understood."

"Move out! Today we're taking out the Hero Hunter!"

 **Phoenix Man's POV**

"Then drop dead!" The unclassed Mysterious Being known as Rhino Wrestler charged forward, throwing the B-Class hero Pineapple and the C-Class hero Mohican into the air. They dropped to the floor, unconscious, at the feet of several Mysterious Beings.

Coming to a halt, he huffed pridefully. "So what do you think is my Disaster Level?"

The bird-like Mysterious Being known as Phoenix Man shook his head. "Don't get distracted Rhino Wrestler. Remember what we're here for. Did they tell you where he is?"

The anthropomorphic rhino snorted and looked at him with a scornful expression. "No, I defeated them before I could ask them. Why are we even bothering to go after this one guy? We don't need him, especially when our association is already full of powerful members like myself."

Maiko Plasma stepped beside the Pheonix and shook her head slowly. "Don't get so cocky Wrestler. Remember, this is the one that single handedly defeated Black Sperm, a Being far beyond any of us in strength."

He nodded in agreement. "Indeed. If we manage to recruit him to our side, the Monster Association will not only have one more powerful member, but also one that knows the inner workings of the Hero Association. We might even be able to use him to draw S-Class heroes into a trap."

The pavement shook and cracked, and the Tiger-class Electric Catfish Man rose out of the hole.

"Electric Catfish Man! Where are your team members? Weren't you assigned with Marshal Gorilla, Junior Centipede, Rafflesidon and D-DOS?"

"We found our target. Unfortunately, they lost their patience with him and attacked him."

Plasma daintily scratched her scalp."So where are they? Did they leave to rampage elsewhere?"

"Um," the Monster held up a whip, a yellowed vine and a blood stained clump of fur. "This are the biggest pieces left of them."

Maiko Plasma gave a quiet gasp of shock, while Rhino Wrestler snorted, looking mildly impressed.

"We managed to escape in the confusion, but we lost him again. Junior Centipede is tracking him down now as we spe-" from the hole which Catfish had made emerged the aforementioned giant centipede, looking more panicked than they had ever seen him.

"Junior Centipede? What's wrong?"

"I've found the one we're looking for! He's in the square over there!"

"That's good, isn't it? Why are you so panicked."

"There are several heroes nearby, including S-Class heroes!"

Maiko Plamsa's eyes widened slightly. "Are they here to take down the Hero Hunter?"

"What heroes?"

"Many members of the tank top army, two of Atomic Samurai's disciples, robots under Metal Knight, and there may be some more as well."

"Stay here." The Phoenix Monster took flight, soaring over the city. Sure enough, walking across a strangely empty large square was their target, the bald man, clad in his distinctively un-color-coordinated hero costume and carrying a plastic bag, Monster blood still drying on his hands. In two alleyways around the square were crouched several Tanktoppers, including Tanktop Master, and two swordsman. There were also several armored vans used by the Hero Association surrounding the area.

He glided back down, to where his teammates were. "Yes, there are many Heroes surrounding his location. They are likely there as part of an ambush aimed at our target."

"I say we let him fight them! If he can't beat off this assault he doesn't deserve to be recruited into our Association!"

"Rhino Wrestler quiet do-"

"No, he is right." Maiko Plasma looked over at him in surprise. The phoenix strutted forward, studying the Hero carefreely strolling down the empty square. "He has taken down several of our members, and is still working for them. He might be strong, but we must make sure of his loyalties and that his defeat of Black Sperm and our team wasn't just a fluke. We are already taking a massive risk delaying our kidnapping and attack plans just to recruit him, we must be absolutely sure of his worth." He pointed up to a nearby roof. "Come, we'll observe from there."

The bird man clapped his wings, propelling himself to the roof, before landing and folding them back up to wait. Screams and panicked cries echoed from the building, and a few minutes later the remaining monsters emerged from the cargo escalator.

A robot swooped in, its face bearing the signature three-eyes of Metal Knight. It landed before firing a barrage of missiles at the Baldy, who easily weaved in and out of them before smacking the last one back at the robot, destroying it.

Behind him, a second burst out of the ground. Two long poles emerged from it, and fired a powerful electric burst. It impacted the Baldy directly, causing bright bolts of electricity to arc off him.

The electricity subsided, and the Hero simply stood there for a few moments, before yelling out in horror.

Did he get wounded?

"Ah, the meat got cooked!" The hero held up his plastic bag in panic, staring at the now smoking pieces of meat.

Behind him, the metal poles retracted, and two double barreled guns popped out to replace them. They fired several shots that punched directly through a nearby concrete wall, but bounced off him harmlessly.

Sighing, the B-Class walked over to the robot, ignoring the armor piercing bullets hitting him, grabbed it, and tossed it to the other side of the square, where it exploded.

"Damn it." He held up the plastic bag full of blackened pieces of meat, ignoring the fact that one of the robots guns was still functional and was firing at his head. "How am I going to make hotpot now?"

"There he is!" Over a dozen heavily muscled men and one muscled girl in tanktops poured from a nearby alleyway behind the Hero Hunter, while a black van sped in front of him, and out of it walked a dark skinned man in only a speedo. Two larger robots landed to his right, both bristling with heavy weaponry, and out of a building to his left burst two swordsman, the A-Class Okamaitachi and Bushidrill.

Pheonix Man's breath caught in his throat. The HA had sent this many heroes to defeat the Hero Hunter?

To his surprise, rather than looking grim or apprehensive as expected, the Baldy merely looked over at the Tanktopper army with some annoyance. "You again? Look, I don't know what you want with me, but leave me alone. I'm dealing with a very serious problem right now."

The dark-skinned man, S-Class Metalalloy Darkshine, stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. The sound echoed through the square and frightened away a nearby flock of birds. "What could possibly be more serious than facing so many heroes at the same time?"

The Baldy stared at them with a straight, yet fairly foreboding face. His eyes were serious, his expression grim, and the aura he gave off was of such severity that even the S-Class heroes stood still, waiting to see what he would say.

"If I throw overcooked meat into the hotpot, will the soup taste burnt?"

 **Metal Knight's POV**

"Scan complete." The reclusive yet brilliant scientist, Bofoi, cast aside the miniature drone he was currently repairing in favour of looking at his main workstation supercomputer's screen.

Two days ago he had received two requests from the Hero Association. One was to rebuild Metal Bat's bat, which had been broken in a battle with a rogue hero. The other was to supply several robots to aid in the capture of said Hero.

The first one was in itself alarming. That bat was made to withstand double of Metal Bat's maximum batting strength. More importantly, it had reduced faith in his abilities. There were already been mutterings of renegotiating of current contracts, which was unacceptable.

Fortunately, the second matter would resolve the first. He had been asked to provide a number of robots to aid in the hero's capture. If he could defeat the Hero, his reputation would be restored. Not only that, but if he could capture and analyse this surprisingly strong human, he could use the findings to better his robots.

As part of his contingencies, he had researched the Hero's past accomplishments, at least all those known to the HA, as well as a few dug up from the past. This individual, Saitama, was strong, no doubt about it. The Hero Association only had data on him finishing off the Demon-Level Sea King, aiding the destruction of the meteorite as well as defeating a rumoured Dragon-level threat, although in light of the fact that he had beaten it single-handedly the threat level was adjusted to Demon. Further investigations uncovered whispers of the B-class single handedly defeating Demon and Dragon level threats before he had become a hero.

But all that was irrelevant. What was relevant was the results of the Scan.

The S-class had been developing a scanner at the behest of the Hero Association to guard their shelters and Headquarters. It had the ability to scan individuals to ascertain how monstrous they were.

Most of those he Scanned either had 100% for human or 100% for Monster. Some, especially higher ranked heroes or people in the process of being transformed into monsters, had a mixed percentage of both, but always added up to a total of 100%, like Zombieman, who was 70% human 30% monster. Others, like the heroes Demon Cyborg and Jet Nice Guy, were less than 100% for human as parts of their bodies were cybernetic.

But this, he thought, this is unexpected. He stared with interest at the screen, displaying the results of his Scan.  
Human percentage: 100%  
Monster percentage: 100%


	4. Crushing Defeats

**Author's Note:** Erm, just to be clear, the first and third chapters are both flashbacks to before the Monster recruitment, and before the events of the second chapter.

 **Orochi's POV**

The Monster King looked down, interested.

"He defeated you? Alone?"

His once-mighty Dragon-class subordinate Black Sperm simply nodded, too busy scarfing down chunks of raw meat to properly reply.

"Oi." Gyoro Gyoro cleared her throat. "Show some respect."

"Oh! Sorry Monster King!" The Being hurriedly choked down the last morsels of meat. "Yes, this Hero is the one who-" he swallowed, as if this was a difficult fact to admit. "-who defeated me, with minimal aid from Atomic Samurai."

"If he was so powerful, how did you survive?"

"It was due to Atomic Samurai's meddling. He missed a few cells when he sliced up my last few dozen cells. If not for him the Baldy would have finished me off."

"Indeed. Go, restock your cell count." The Monster lowered his head and walked off, grabbing several large hunks of meat as he did.

The Monster King looked back down at his one-eyed subordinate. "This is the same one that had been hunting down heroes?"

"Yes Monster King. As of right now he has single handedly disabled 20 of both C and B classes, 5 A-classes and the S-class Metal Bat. However, he is also killing any monsters he comes across."

"Cancel the attack on the sponsors. Tell Phoenix Man and his team to hunt down this man. Recruit him to our side. If that proves impossible, kill him."

 **Geno's POV**

Genos growled in frustration and landed.

This was a waste of time. He had been searching the park from end to end for the past three hours, and had turned up with nothing. There were not even any signs that a Mysterious Being had ever been there, and left the park to rampage elsewhere.

The roar of an animal caused the S-class to look at the nearby forest.

Since I'm here, I might as well hunt down a wild bear for Sensei. He did enjoy the bear meat hotpot we had last time.

The cyborg stepped into the forest, scanning the ground for any tracks or scents. Saitama Sensei had mentioned that the wild bear population was increasing, so finding one should not take too long.

"Mister!" The cyborg turned around to see a middle aged man running towards him, clad in hunter's attire and carrying a bolt action rifle.

"Can I help you?"

The hunter ground to a halt in front of him, gasping for air. "One of my friends has been attacked, and he's badly hurt!

The S-class cyborg perked up. Was he attacked by the same Mysterious Being the Association had sent him after? "Lead me to him." The Hunter took off running, and he followed.

The two men emerged into a large clearing. It looked like it had once been forest, but all the surrounding trees had been cleared by an unimaginable force, having been thrown dozens of feet away.

In the center of the now cleared space laid a limp and broken figure, dressed in a black ninja outfit, with several broken weapons lying beside him. Strangely, a baby boar was sniffing his feet and prancing around it in concern.

Geno's took a step back. "Speed of Sound Sonic?"

"You already know him?"

"Indeed, we have fought before, when he attempted to attack my Sensei Saitama."

"Wait! He's coming to!"

The effeminate ninja was indeed stirring. He coughed, causing blood to sprinkle over nearby rocks, and slowly pushed himself upright. "M-Mitagi. What is- you?" The ninja started upon seeing Genos, and hurriedly groped the surroundings for a weapon, sending fresh trickles of blood to flow from his wounds.

"Speed o Sound Sonic, what has happened here? Who did this to you?"

The ninja looked up at him scornfully. "You don't know? You're always following him around like a loyal dog, shouldn't you know about his?"

The cyborg blinked. "You don't mean-"

Sonic spat out a tooth. "Yes, Saitama."

 **Sonic's POV**

The blades flew through the air, moving at near the speed of sound, and stabbed into a boulder, cleaving it in half.

Smiling in satisfaction, he pulled the blades from the rock and pushed them into his belt. It had taken weeks and threatening plenty of the right people, but he had finally managed to add the famed Diamond Blades to his arsenal.

These blades were touted as the sharpest and strongest blades on earth, capable of slicing through anything and being virtually unbreakable. They had gotten their name not because they were as strong as diamond, but because they were hard enough to cut through one.

Saitama. The ninja's hand tightened on his sword hilt. You may have defeated me in the past, but the next time we meet will be your doom!

The sound of moving vegetation caught his attention, and he instantly drew his weapons. A threat?

Through the bushes stepped a familiar yellow-red eyesore.

No. An innocent smile spread across his face. An opportunity.

"Saitama! Today will be the day…" the ninja trailed off when he noticed that not only were his rival's eyes closed and his head flopped clumsily to one side, but a strange purple aura was covering his entire body, minus his head.

He pushed those thoughts aside. Whatever was happening to Saitama wasn't his concern, what was his concern was finishing him here and now!

"Today will be the day you die!" With this declaration the ninja threw one of the Diamond Blades towards his rival. The blade shot through the air, too fast for even him to track, spinning right into Saitama's outstretched hand.

 _"How disappointing."_ The ninja froze. The voice that came from Saitama wasn't his usual goofy tone, but a deep growl, deeper and more evil sounding than anything he had ever heard. It was also coming not from his mouth, but around his chest level.

Saitama stepped forward, easily crushing the blade in his hand. _"This is the rival I have heard so much about? I would expect someone who would dare to even claim to be his equal to match the mighty Tornado of Terror in power, or at least a Dragon Class, not some reject of a ninja."_

 _"I have limited time, so let's make this quick. I will not kill you, he won't allow it."_ Saitama's hand reached out and tapped his temple, which caused his head to flop to the other side. _"But I do not need to kill you to stop you."_

The ninja backed up. "Saitama! I'm warning you! Get back or I'll-"

 _"Do you know what irritates me, ninja? Your ingratitude. You and I both know the true power of the Caped Baldy. You and I both know that if he wanted to he could kill you with ease, as well as every single person on Earth. But he tolerates you, despite your constant attempts to assassinate him he lets you off every single time. Yet you still insist on continuing your futile efforts."_

 _"I have more important battles in the coming weeks ahead, so let us end it here."_

Fear gripped Sonic, and in desperation he threw all his diamond blades at once. Saitama, or rather the demon in Saitama's body, simply stepped forward, ignoring the blades which glanced harmlessly off him.

 _"Today I will show you his power, the power which will break you."_ He pulled back his fist.

 _"Quite literally."_

 **Darkshine's POV**

Loud booming laughter echoed from a nearby building, prompting all present to look up at its source.

"Monsters?" The raucous laughter was coming from a anthropomorphic Rhino, who stood there in open sight on the roof with his head thrown back laughing, until something else pulled him back.

"Ignore him.!" The voice of his fellow S-Class Child Emperor cackled into his ear. "Focus on our target, the other A-classes can deal with him!"

"Right!" Tanktop Master lowered himself into a running stance. "Tanktop Tackle!" The S-class charged forward, his arms folded over each other.

He crashed to a halt as he impacted Saitama, tumbling clumsily to the ground.

"You guys are so annoying." The Baldy casually lifted his arm and chopped the side of Tanktop Master's neck, causing him to yell and pass out.

"Master!" The Tanktop army surged forward, only for all of them to be thrown back by a flurry of relaxed punches.

"This is for Iaian!" The two disciples of Atomic Samurai charged forward, their swords leaving their scabbards in sync at near the speed of sound.

Clang!

To their surprise, the Baldy wasn't there anymore, their swords only hitting each other. Rather, he was now somehow 30 feet away, looking at his plastic bag with an almost childishly relieved expression.

"Phew, the meat is unscathed." He held it up to eye level. "Although still overcooked. I guess I could still make fried rice with this…"

"Superalloy Bazooka!" The bodybuilder sent a powerful punch forward, so powerful that it cracked the ground underneath his feet and sent small clouds of dust flying. But to his shock and horror, his fist hadn't impacted his enemy's head as expected, but was instead nestled within an outstretched red-gloved palm.

The Baldy had blocked his blow with just one hand…

"Listen, I don't know what all you people want with me, but I'm really busy today, and I'm getting pissed as well." The man increased his pressure, and the S-class's legs began to buckle, his hand in crushing pain.

"So anyone in my way… gets punched."

Several explosions sounded off, and the two heroes were immediately engulfed in fire.

Metal Knight! In the confusion, the Baldy had let go of his hand, coughing and waving his hand in front of his face. The S-class ran away just as a second wave of missiles flew over the horizon and detonated, causing an enormous explosion. The concussive force was so large that it sent the unconscious Tanktop army flying, knocked out the two disciples of Atomic Samurai and shook the ground so much that even he lost his footing. The smoke cleared, revealing the silhouette of the Baldy.

The B-class dropped to his knees, causing a surge of hope to well up inside the dark-skinned S-class. Did Metal Knight get him?

"No…" he slowly reached down, and with a trembling hand picked up a charred piece of plastic. "Today was the only day of the year that they have a sale for prime pork chops…" the Baldy hit the ground, causing even more cracks to spread across the already destroyed pavement. "Goddammit!"

Taking advantage of his temporary lapse, the two robots moved forward.

One of the robot's chest opened, revealing a massive minigun, as well as several cannons. They opened fire, tearing up the pavement as well as devastating a nearby building, but the B-Class simply vanished, reappearing behind the robot and punching it in half.

The second robot sprouted several massive blades, which shot forward in a flurry of slashes. With metallic clanking the blades dropped to the ground, broken, all of them on impact. It too was destroyed in one punch.

The S-class bodybuilder clenched his jaw and pushed himself up. This Hero Hunter was strong, there was no doubt about it. He needed to end this fight here and now before he got loose again. It was time to use his finishing move.

"Superalloy Butterfly!"

The next thing he knew he was flying, spinning lazily end over end into a nearby building.

 **Phoenix Man's POV**

With a flick of his wrist the hero sent a stream of fire poured forward, forcing the monsters to disperse.

"Death Gatling, Lightning Genji, now!" Two more heroes leapt from behind the first one, which was clad in a dark blue martial arts suit.

The one known as Lightning Genji hit his batons together and brought the electrified sticks onto Junior Centipede, causing him to yell out in pain and fall to the ground. Electric Catfish charged forward to counter him, but a hail of bullets from Death Gatling tore him apart and forced Maiko Plasma to duck for cover behind a air conditioning unit.

With a pleasant "ding" the elevator door opened, and two more heroes poured out of it. One dressed in an elegant suit, one in martial arts attire with a katana and one with a slingshot.

"Rhino Wrestler!"

"With pleasure!" The rhino charged forward, causing the heroes to scatter. The one in the suit pulled out a handkerchief, which morphed into a fencing sword, while the one with the katana drew it. They gave several quick slashes, opening up large wounds in the Monster's skin. Simultaneously, the one with the slingshot fired several bullets, causing Wrestler to yell out in pain and be thrown off the roof.

"Maiko!" She looked over at him. "We must meet with the reserve unit." Before they had set out to find the Hero Hunter they had ordered Senior Centipede, Sludge Jellyfish and Elder Centipede to lie in wait underground. The former two wouldn't be able to do much against so many A-classes, but Elder Centipede would be more than capable of crushing them with ease.

The female Monster nodded and grabbed his ankles, and he leapt off the roof. As they glided down, dodging the slingshot rounds flung at them, the S-class Hero Metalalloy Darkshine shot by them, crashing into the a row of apartments.

Maiko hummed appreciatively. "Looks like he has already incapacitated most of the heroes, even the S-classes."

"Good, we can safely recruit him now."

"Stop right there!" The two monsters looked over to see the five A-class heroes running towards them, weapons drawn.

The Phoenix shook his head. "Ignore them, our reserve team will take care of them."

At that moment the ground began rumbling, and the Dragon Level Monster Elder Centipede bust out the ground, levelling the surrounding buildings with ease, causing panic for the A-class heroes.

"Lets go talk to him now. Do you have our membership car-"

The two monsters were interrupted as they were knocked out of the sky by the torn apart corpse of Senior Centipede.

 **Lightning Max's POV**

"Hero Hunter still at large, Hero Association reassures the public that he will be stopped." The A-class hero sighed and put down the newspaper. He had already heard rumours that an S-class had tried to apprehend him and failed. Looks like I should have waited for more backup on that day.

The door to his room was pushed open, and a nurse carrying a tray entered.

"Good morning sir, glad to see you're finally awake." She placed the tray which carried his breakfast on the side table.

"Thanks. Er, where are the other heroes?"

"Their situation was less critical than yours sir, so they have been moved to a different room. You can join them in a few days."

"I see."

At this moment, another nurse walked in. "Hi, sorry to bother you sir, but you have a visitor."

The A-class jerked, his cast being moved into a painful position as he did. "Is it S-class Puri Puri Prisoner?"

"No sir."

"Alright." Wincing, the A-class adjusted his cast back into a more comfortable position.

The door opened. In walked a young man, dressed in a tight black shirt and loose white pants. His spiky hair was as white as the pants, and his sharp features were accentuated even more by his yellow eyes.

"You are the Hero Lightning Max."

"I'm sorry, but have we met?"

The man sat at the edge of his bed, propping his left leg up on the side table, knocking over his tray. "My name is Garou."


	5. Interested Or Intrigued?

**Child Emperor's POV**

A sonic boom was heard over the horizon, and suddenly a barrage of several massive missiles shot in, identical to the one fired at their target just a few moments ago. They impacted the giant centipede, causing massive explosions to cover almost half its body. The smoke cleared, revealing that absolutely no damage had been done to its body save a small area in its midsection which was cracked.

The child genius stepped back, astonished. Those were Metal Knight's most powerful missiles, reserved for the strongest of monsters. Each was capable of destroying a Demon, and yet they did almost no damage to it?

But it appeared that Metal Knight wasn't finished. His main Battle Robot swooped in, firing another barrage of missiles at the cracked area. The gigantic Centipede screeched and swung his tail at the robot, which just managed to dodge the strike. Flying up to the cracked area, it used large suction cups to grab ahold of a piece of armor, before promptly ripping it off and flying away.

The assembled heroes looked on in disbelief as the robot disappeared over the horizon." Metal Knight! Where are you going, the monster isn't dead yet!"

He gritted his teeth, and several weapons sprouted from his backpack, as the Dragon level Centipede turned its attention back on them. At the same time, the S-class hastily dug out his cell phone. Dodging a strike from his adversary, he punched in the universal distress number.

"This is Child Emperor with an urgent message. All nearby S-class heroes, please respond."

Two clicks were heard from the other end. "This is Pig God."

"Yes, Child Emperor Baby?"

"Pig God, Puri Puri Prisoner, I need you to come to my current location at once!" He paused to slash at the Centipede, but the blade deflected harmlessly off the armored shell. "I am facing a Dragon level threat, and need backup immediately!"

"We're on our way." They hung up, and the child prodigy put away his cell phone and hastily leapt out of the way of a powerful blow from the Centipede.

His eyes flickered over to the group of A-Classes. All of them had been wounded in its initial appearance save Death Gatling, and his only weapon, his minigun, had been damaged beyond use. And the entirety of the earlier strike team had all been defeated by their target, which was still running loose. As of now he was the only one who was combat ready, and the only one strong enough to hold off this monster until help arrived.

Pig God, Prisoner, please hurry!

 **Phoenix Man's POV**

The two Mysterious Beings fell out of the sky, coated in the remains of their former colleague. As they plummeted towards the ground, they heard Sludge Jellyfish yell in anger.

"Insolent bastard! You dare to attack us?"

"Sludge Jellyfish, wait!"

But it was too late. With one punch the remnants of the Monster was soon decorating the nearby wall. The man nonchalantly swung his fist, flicking the blood off his glove. "Sure are a lot of monsters today."

At the sound of their landing, he turned towards them, and raised his fist.

The Phoenix scrambled to his feet, forcing himself to sound calmer than he really was. "Wait, Hero Hunter, we are not your enemy."

The man looked confused, lowering his fist.

"Are… you talking to me?" The Baldy looked left and right around the empty square, as if there would be someone else he could be speaking to.

"Indeed, we have observed you for quite some time now. I think this might interest you." He pulled out a Monster Association Card from his feathers and handed it to the Hunter, who took it with an almost comically confused expression.

"Ahhh!" The two Mysterious Beings as well as the bewildered Hunter looked over to see the five A-classes standing in a tense circle, all of them injured, Elder Centipede looking over them with Child Emperor hanging from its mouth by his backpack. The Dragon level Mysterious Being closed his jaw, and Child Emperor's backpack, which still had several weapons extended from it, was crushed. The Centipede then hurled his captive S-Class aside, and swung his head so that as the child hit the ground he would simultaneously be crushed by his head.

Excitement welled up within the Phoenix. Here it was, the death of an S-Class happening right in front of him,and with several more to follow too. And it would be easy even without Elder Centipede to choke the life out of them, seeing how the rest of the heroes were all unconscious. This was sure to go down in history as a gigantic triumph for the Monster Association.

A trail of dust was torn up, and suddenly the S-class was several dozen meters from the point of impact, back inside the circle of A-classes, safely in the arms of the Bald Hunter.

The Baldy set him down. "Little kids shouldn't be running around in places like this."

The S-Class stomped his foot petulantly. "I am not a-

They were interrupted by a massive roar as Elder Centipede, robbed of his prize, lunged towards them, his eyes burning with rage.

Casually, the B-Class turned around and punched the Dragon-level Centipede. It exploded into tiny pieces save a large chunk of armor and flesh, which flew end over end and landed directly on Maiko Plasma.

The Phoenix ran over and pushed the chunk away, but it was too late, she had been impaled in the abdomen by a shard of armor.

The Mysterious Being looked back over at the Bald B-Class and the Heroes he was surrounded by, seething. He was the only survivor of his team, and he couldn't even attempt to recruit the Hunter again, seeing how the S-Class was still there and with more probably on the way. It didn't look like he was interested in being recruited anyway, and judging from the shifting rubble coming from the nearby building Superalloy Darkshine would soon be back. If he wanted to survive he needed to leave now.

"We will meet again, Hero Hunter." With that, he spread his wings and flew away.

 **Child Emperor's POV**

The S-Class stared mutely as their saviour simply walked away, carefully picking himself through the masses of Monster flesh and blood. Reaching into his pocket, he slowly took out his phone, pressed the speed dial and brought it up to his face.

"Pig God, Puri Puri Prisoner?"

"Yes?"

"You don't need to come anymore."

 **Geno's POV**

"Sensei?" The Demon Cyborg slowly pushed open the door to their shared apartment, peering in. There was no one there.

Genos sighed. Looks like Sensei isn't home from the sale yet, I'll have to ask him about today's events later.

He had ascertained that Sonic was telling the truth. Even after repeated interrogation and even threats of additional bodily harm the ninja still stood by his story. And he had not detected any signs of carefully concealed lying, such as increased heart rate or quickened breathing. Sonic had indeed been attacked by Saitama Sensei.

No. That was impossible. He shook his head. I can't doubt Saitama Sensei.

Even if Sensei did attempt to track him down to preemptively defeat him or perhaps to bring him to justice he would not carry out such a severe beating, certainly not one that would leave Sonic almost crippled. Not to mention all the other heroes that had been reported hunted by him. Perhaps his original theory was correct, and there was a clone of Saitama running around? Or perhaps there was a powerful monster that looked like him and was impersonating him? Or-

The cyborg was pulled out of his thoughts as he tripped over something.

The S-Class tumbled clumsily to the floor, but quickly pushed himself back up. He had tripped over his Sensei's futon? No, he had tripped over something underneath it, it was elevated half an inch higher than normal. He grabbed the quilted mattress and tossed it aside, revealing a large board hidden underneath the mattress.

He held it up. It was a world map, on it was printed a map of every city, with detailed schematics of the large districts and towns as well as Hero Association facilities. Each city was coloured a different Color, Z-City was shaded in a bright red hue while A-City was in dirty green. There were also notes nothing the easiest ways to move from one city to the next, and where the highest concentration of Heroes and Monster attack were.

The Hero flipped over the map. On the back was a long list of names in tiny font, each and every one of them Heroes from the Hero Association. Some were listed as part of groups, such as the thirty heroes of the Fubuki group and the members of the Tanktopper Army, and beside each was their Class, although only the S-classes had their rankings listed.

Although not only Heroes were listed, the S-class also spotted notes for Organisations such as the Council of Swordsmasters and a group called the "Hunters" under someone named Accel.

Some of the listed even had handwritten notes pointing to them, stating things such as "Use her ESP powers to draw her Sister to the same area" and "once defeated, immediately move to adjacent city to capitalise on lack of heroes."

Geno's shifted uncomfortably. This was not right. His Sensei was the strongest man on earth, perhaps the universe, but he was not an organised person. He would not do something like this, let alone for a heinous purpose like hunting down fellow heroes.

However, something stood out to him. Over C-City was hastily scrawled a few words in large bold marker, with the words "to be taken care of by today." written beside it in tiny lettering with a 0.38 mm pen.

"The Super Fight tournament?"

 **Saitama's POV**

"Man, that was a waste." The B-Class's heart ached as he thought of the prime meat he had lost fighting those heroes. "I hope Genos didn't throw out that old chicken in the fridge, or we won't have any meat left to eat."

Try as he might, the Hero just couldn't understand what he had done to piss so many of them off. He remembered how those five heroes from a few days back had continuously argued against Genos for over 20 minutes until that guy in the bluish-grey tanktop had gotten a call, which caused him to apologise and herd the other heroes away, carrying the wounded to hospital as they did.

"Haaaahhh." The hero rubbed his head. "Man, what is it with S-classes and cell phones?"

Oh well.

What to do for dinner though? He was in the mood for meat, but only had mushrooms and eggs left in his fridge, as well as leftover veggies from yesterday. Frowning, he turned towards the horizon, deep in thought.

I guess i could go back to the shop and see if they have any left...

The hero's hand brushed over two cards in his pocket. Frowning, he pulled them out and unfolded them, studying the two pieces of stiff paper.

"What's this train ticket to C-City doing in my pock- oh a list of coupons!" The B-class unfolded the A3 size piece of paper and looked joyfully over the rows upon rows of pictures of discounted commodities. "Genos must have slipped it into my pocket."

The Hero looked at the time of the sale, before hastily checking the time on a nearby clock. "It's only an hour from here! I can make it in time." He paused, before looking back at the train ticket.

It would be faster to simply run, but the train ticket was already paid for, and it was for a luxury cabin with food provided. Not to mention he couldn't afford to get another speeding ticket. Train it was then.

The B-Class joyously strided towards the train station, too happy to notice that his disciple had flown over him, heading towards the same destination.


	6. Discoveries

**Saitama's POV**

"Sir, what you ordered." The B-Class Hero looked down to see the attendant place a plate of fruit dotted waffles, predominantly banana, as well as a large glass of milk on the small foldable table in front of him.

"Not bad, thanks." Picking up a fork, he eagerly cut into it, and took a large bite.

His face scrunched up in slight disgust. "This pancake tastes… bitter."

The attendant nodded apologetically. "Yes sir, you specifically requested we add some sleeping medicine to your food. Did we add too much? The medicine does have quite a strong taste. Do you need us to make another-"

"No!" The Hero yelled out a little too quickly. If he asked for another he would just get ripped off. Knowing how expensive train food was… He shuddered as he popped another bite into his mouth and chewed, already feeling slightly drowsy.

Although why would Genos ask the train company to add sleeping medicine to his food?

 **Phoenix Man's POV**

"Nyan has infiltrated a prison and is currently recruiting many of the inmates. Gouketsu has just reached C-City and is en route to the stadium." The humanoid bird frowned slightly as Gyoro Gyoro finished its report.

He coughed, causing both his fellow Monster and their superior Orochi to look at him. "With all due respect Monster King, is this wise, limiting our strikes to only Gouketsu and Nyan's recruitment attacks alongside a few other small diversionary attacks rather than our original plans?"

The one-eyed telepath shook its head. "Phoenix Man, you of all people should know the severity of the new threat we've encountered. This man strength is abnormal, to say the least."

The anthropomorphic bird nodded in agreement. That Baldy had wiped out the entire strike force single handedly, even the Dragon Level Elder Centipede. That was no mean feat, even compared to the strength of the higher echelons of the Monster Association.

Gyoro Gyoro placed its arms on the table, lacing its fingers together before continuing. "We need to ascertain whether or not the Hero Association has any more secret reserves such as him, and perhaps learn how he acquired this sort of power. We also need to ascertain his true loyalties, which seem to waver back and forth. Our current strategy will first be probing attacks-" the single-eyed Monster froze, before looking up. On its lone eye was displayed an image of the aforementioned dreaded Caped Baldy, tearing Awakened Cockroach in half. The image was brief, but the Monster King understood immediately.

"Order Gouketsu to return at once. Leave the rest, they are expendable." The Monster King then shifted slightly, looking at him. "Call a meeting of the higher cadres, we have much to discuss."

 **Peach Terry's POV**

With a single slap the glowing baldy sent the two B-Classes known as Wild Horn and Smell Master Flying into the air, where they landed at his feet, unconscious.

Their attacker turned his torso downwards, scratching his shoulder. _"Oh my, did I beat them already? I must be spoiling myself, I've gotten too used to fighting the higher classes." he shook his fist, which was stained in decidedly non-human blood._

 _"Looks like I've finished off the entirety of the Monster presence here. Time to-"_ he paused, distracted by the sound of nearby battle. _"Apparently not. It matters not, I can deal with that later, I have other, more fruitful targets in the meantime. Speaking of fruits..."_ The baldy slowly turned towards the A-Class Hero, only to be distracted by the ringing of his phone.

The soft cry of "Sensei, please co-" followed by the sound of crumpling metal was met from the other end, and the call abruptly cut off into static. The sound was followed almost instantly by a identical sound coming from the nearby battle.

 _"So bothersome."_ Despite his head not showing any emotion, the rest of the body looked exasperated, his shoulders slumping and his right hand coming up to touch his forehead. _"You would think that being an S-Class would mean he would be capable of protecting himself."_

 _"Oh well, I am in no hurry. I may as well eradicate whatever threat has compromised his physical well-being..."_ He turned around and lowered himself slightly into a running position.

This snapped the A-Class out of his stupor. With a challenging yell, he brought his sword down on the Baldy's back.

The blade snapped, and the metal fragment flew right into the A-Class's eye, who yelled in pain and collapsed. Through the blood, he saw his assailant walking towards him, fist clenched.

 _"Don't think I forgot about you."_

 **Geno's POV**

The S-Class hero desperately ducked aside as his opponent threw a punch, which tore a gaping hole in the ground where he was standing just moments before.

He had travelled to C-City, finding nothing for his first hour of searching. However, suddenly reports of Monster attacks came everywhere, but his searches yielded only dead Monster corpses, and occasionally the broken and bruised body of a hero beside it. That is, until he was ambushed by this one.

"Machine gun blows!" The Cyborg unleashed a barrage of lightning fast punches, but the Monster simply blocked them all with one hand. Gritting his teeth, he activated his thrusters, using them to ricochet off several buildings, getting behind his opponent.

"High voltage fist!" With that battle cry he threw a powerful electricity charged blow, but the Mysterious Being simply reached out and caught his fist between two fingers. With a single blow, the Monster tore off his right arm while sending him flying into a nearby building.

The blond robot coughed as the dust got into his mouth, quickly sending out an S-Class distress signal. This Monster is too strong.

"What's wrong? Aren't you an S-Class Hero? Get up, you've got three seconds."

Even now he is just toying with me. I must call for reinforcements from the Hero Association.

No. The S-Class leapt out of the rubble just as his enemy punched into the spot he used to be in, pulling out a cellphone and speed dialing a number. This Monster was too powerful, only Tornado of Terror and King would be able to fight him head on, and they were unlikely to come. The only one who he could call was...

"Sensei! Please co-" The Mysterious Being slammed him downwards, and the S-Class was smashed into the ground.

The Cyborg slowly pushed himself to his feet, before an enormous foot crushed him into the ground again.

"Hey Gouketsu!" A small winged Mysterious Being with a singular eye that covered almost half its body flew into his line of vision. "It's time to go! He's been spotted in this city!"

"He?" A second voice, presumably from the spiky haired Mysterious Being, rumbled.

"The one who took down Elder Centipede and Black Sperm, he's nearby, and he's already wiped out all of our troops in this city. He's fighting a few heroes nearby, but we no longer have any soldiers in this city, meaning that S-Class heroes or even himself could mass on your location."

"Hm, fine. We'll-"

A sonic boom sounded, the Monster was knocked off him, and several nearby buildings collapsed.

The sounds of destruction started raging behind him, the telltale thuds of blows being exchanged and the rumble of buildings being destroyed, punctuated by a shocked cry of "Gouketsu!" from the winged eye. Suddenly the ground shook, throwing the cyborg into the air and flipping him around.

The Mysterious Being was lying in the center of a crater that dwarfed his. It's right arm was bent the wrong way, black blood was flowing down its chin and a quick scan showed that several of his bones were broken.

It slowly pushed itself to its knees. "This is impos-" before his head was pulled back and a red gloved fist punched through his face.

The cyborg's spirits lifted. "Sensei, is that-?"

But before he could finish his sentence, the same fist reached down, and suddenly tore off his remaining eye.

In panic, the S-Class raised his hand to incinerate his new attacker, only for his arm to suddenly be caught in a vice like grip.

 _"Listen. I do not know for what purpose you have decided to come here, but stay away from the Super Fight Stadium. I can only use a small fraction of your Master's strength but I am still more than capable of crushing you with ease."_ As if to prove his point he crushed the arm he was holding. _"I am being so nice to you only because you are his disciple, so I advise you to heed my advice."._

The grip was released, and the sound of footsteps began to fade. The S-Class laid there for a moment, before calling for Dr Kuseno's recovery drones.

No. Determination surged through the cyborg, and he painfully pushed himself up. He was still functional. He would not rest until he learnt the truth. Turning on his life signature detection and radar systems to compensate for his loss of vision, the cyborg limped determinedly forward, towards the Super Fight Stadium.

Suiryu's POV

"Mr Suiryu!" The four-time consecutive winner of the Super Fight tournament turned around to see a haggard and stressed looking official run up to him.

"The opening ceremony is starting soon, so please prepare yourself".

"Sure, got it." The martial artist strolled off casually, looking at some of his fellow competitors hastily making last minute preparations.

Suddenly, a bloodied head slammed through the wall in front of him.

"Hey, you're that Bakuzan guy right? What are you do-" But the man didn't get a chance to answer, before he was suddenly smashed through the wall and thrown into the room, causing all of the present martial artists to look up in astonishment. Out of the newly created hole stepped an unimpressive looking bald man, dressed in a tacky, almost ugly yellow red hero suit, and for some reason coated in a purplish glow.

 _"You are one named Suiryu?"_

The martial artist looked skeptically at the newcomer. "Yes?"

With a single punch, the bald man sent him flying, through the walls and onto the same ring that he had achieved glory upon just last year.

The bald man strolled into the stadium, casually throwing aside the unconscious body of another competitor as he did. Several of the security guards attempted to restrain him but he simply slapped them aside, causing much of the audience to scream in panic.

 _"So, this is the power of the famed Champion?"_

With one hand the yellow suited eyesore casually hurled him into the air. As he plummeted to the ground, he could see all of his fellow contestants had all been defeated, strewn around and outside the stadium.

 _"How disappointing."_ Just as he was mere feet from the ground, the Baldy raised up his leg with almost impossible speed and slammed him into the stadium, causing the ring to split in two. With another punch he was slammed even deeper into the ground, and the two halves of the ring came up slightly before falling.

His attacker made a faint 'tch' sound in disappointment and walked off. _"This is the strongest fighter in the Super Fight Tournament? I should have used today to hunt down Silverfang and his brother, not a disgrace like thi-"_

"Incinerate!"

A massive wall of fire poured from one of the exits, not hitting anyone else but impacting the Baldy head on, causing a massive explosion that engulfed him. The smoke cleared, revealing that the entire half of the stadium had been blown away and the buildings in the next few blocks were ablaze or charred.

Standing in the newly formed mountain of ashes and rubble revealing was their assailant, completely unharmed.

 _"I told you not to interfere."_

Saitama's POV

The B-Class hero jolted awake, blinking his eyes rapidly. Had he reached his station yet? He had fallen aslee-

Wait a minute, this wasn't the train.

Saitama looked around the enormous empty space he now found himself in, and shook his head, blinking, this time in confusion. Where was he? What was he doing here? And what was this mangled metal thing he was holding in his hand-

"S-Sen…se-sei?"


	7. Knowledge For All

**Dr Kuseno's POV**

Crack!

The bowled haired Doctor looked up in surprise. Was that a sonic boom?

Suddenly his proximity alarms started blaring. Something was approaching his laboratory, and at somewhat astonishing speed, many times above what Genos was capable of reaching.

The roboticist looked at his surveillance screens, seeing a blur shoot by them. Worried, he hastily pressed several buttons. He still couldn't contact Genos, and the recovery drone sent to get him had found no trace of him… Activating several spare body recovery drones as a precaution, he watched as they flew out, and were destroyed almost instantly.

Wringing his hands in worry, he leaned slightly against the control panel and held his breath. He had no choice. He just had to hope that his camouflaged door was enough to keep the intruder from discovering where he was.

A massive thud reverberated through the base, and a light flashed, indicating that the exterior door had been breached.

The Doctor's head snapped over in horror. He found it?!

With a deafening clang the interior door fell down, and a frantic looking bald man in a bright yellow suit rushed in, holding a mass of mangled metal in his arms.

"Yo, you're that doctor that Genos always talks about right?" The doctor simply nodded, too stunned to say anything.

The man held out the mess of scrap metal in his hands, and to the Doctor's horror he realised that it was Genos.

"All I could find his head, his arm, what I think is a kidney, and all these other parts here."

The bowl-haired scientist quickly grabbed his equipment and attached Genos head to a life support system, to get essential nutrients flowing back to his head.

"Genos! What happened to you! And who's this?"

"Doctor Kuseno… this is... my Sensei…" the Cyborg slowly tilted his head towards the bald man, who was rapidly tapping his fingers together in anxiety.

The Doctor nodded quickly at the yellow suited Hero, too busy repairing his surrogate son to exchange any more pleasantries.

The more he did repairs however, the more concerned he got. The damage Genos had suffered was astronomical. Most of his parts were bent out of recognition, and even the more resilient parts which he had repaired and reused for years were too damaged to salvage.

"What happened to him? Did a Mysterious Being attack him?"

The bald man rubbed his head in exasperation. "No..."

"Then what did this?"

"It was... probably me."

 **Sweet Mask's POV**

The highest-ranked A-Class Hero gaped in disbelief at the newspaper.

HUNTING OPERATION FAILED, S-CLASS HEROES HOSPITALIZED

He couldn't believe it. For years he had stayed in A-Class, acting as the S-Class gatekeeper to prevent any incompetent, unworthy heroes from ascending into the Hero Assocation top class. And yet it turns out that it was all for naught, the incompetence he had feared would corrupt the S-Class was already firmly entrenched within its ranks.

Pathetic. How were they supposed to protect the public and uphold the image of the Hero Association if they couldn't even take care of one measly rogue B-Class?

Crumpling up the paper, the Rank 1 A-Class picked up his phone and called for his chauffeur. Looks like he would have to handle this himself.

 **Mumen Rider's POV**

"Help! Help!"

The C-Class cyclist screeched to a halt as someone leapt in front of his bicycle, arms held out in panic.

"What's wrong?"

The person, a middle aged woman, pointed frantically at the road she came from. "There's a Monster attacking the concert hall nearby!"

The Hero looked over in horror. Coming over the horizon were thin trails of smoke, and accompanied by a small explosion came the distant sound of crumbling concrete.

"Don't worry miss, I'll handle this!" Turning, he raced down the road, pedalling as fast as he could.

As he neared the site of the attack, he could see that a huge hole had been torn into the side of the building, Lying beside it were two Heroes, most likely members of the Blizzard Group judging from the black suits they were wearing. Both of them had huge gashes and stab wounds covering their body, and only one of them was conscious.

He screeched to a halt beside them. "Are you two ok?"

"We're fine." One of them rasped out, weakly trying to wipe away the blood on his face but only succeeding in smearing it. "Don't worry about us, there's still civilians inside." Gasping in horror, the C-Class turned and raced into the hall.

Slumped over many of the seats were civilians, none of them moving. Large chunks of seating were burnt and ripped to shreds, and craters dotted the area, each ringed with charred concrete pieces and wood.

In the center aisle of the concert hall seats stood a man-like Mysterious Being with long, flowing hair. At the sight of the Hero his hair began to elongate, growing longer and longer and spreading out in a billowing curtain.

Gritting his teeth, the Ranked 1 C-Class tightened his grip on his handlebars, and abruptly yanked them upward, leaping off the bicycle as he did.

"Justice Crash!" His bicycle flew forward, but the monster's hair caught it in mid air and tore it to pieces. Undeterred, he took a combat stance.

"The Cyclist for Justice, Mumen Rider is here!"

But he received no reply. Instead, he heard the sound of footsteps, stealthy but amplified by the hall. In his bicycle's shattered rearview mirror, he made out another Mysterious Being, this one hooded and swathed completely in bandages, with two blades sticking out of his arms. It walked out a corridor and stopped, positioning itself perfectly between himself and the door.

A chill ran down his spine. This was a trap.

The Monster in front of his stepped forward, regarding him with a bored, but slightly smug look. "Like a moth to a flame."

 **Child's Emperor's POV**

The child genius stared at his laptop screen, replaying the same clip over and over again. The one of the Caped Baldy punching the Centipede. Chewing on his lollipop as the clip ended, he closed the video and set down his pen. After so many viewings, it was undeniable.

That Baldy was strong. Too strong.

He leaned back, perplexed. He had first heard of him when he was reading the news about his fellow S-Class, Demon Cyborg's acceptance to the Hero Association. The Baldy had accompanied him there and was the only one other than him to pass the test. He had broken all physical records and achieved perfect scores, but there had been many rumors that he had simply bribed the examiners.

It was evident now that that was wrong. The Baldy truly was powerful. Just based off simulations of his punch force alone he was physically stronger than majority of the S-Classes, even strength based heroes like Darkshine and-

No, wait, that was impossible. The S-Class slammed his laptop shut, shaking his head. The Hero Association could not have overlooked strength of such magnitude. It must be a mistake. Yet, if that was true, how did the Baldy prevail?

Sighing, the child prodigy pulled out his handphone. He needed answers, and he knew the person to get them from.

"Hello, Hero Association HQ? May i know where Mr King is now?"

 **Sonic's POV**

The ninja slowly held up his right hand and flexed his fingers. Good, he had regained his full range of motion in both his hands.

Exhaling slowly, he leaned back. All his methods had failed him, his weapons, his techniques, all had not been enough to stop Saitama from beating him to within an inch of his life. Despite only landing a few blows, it had been enough to severely wound him, and if Saitama had not abruptly stopped his beating he might not even be alive. Perhaps it was time to give up, and get-

The door slammed open, and a flamboyantly gay prisoner skipped in. "Sonic dear!"

Yelping in shock, the ninja began to drag himself to the window. It was indeed time to get another rival.

 **Garou's POV**

The spiky haired martial artist held up the card. It was an invitation to the Hero Association, for some sort of meeting. And as far as he knew many of the most dangerous murderers and crooks in the criminal underworld had received a similar card.

The man grinned. This was his chance.

He had initially been astonished to hear the news. A Hero Hunter? Before him? He hadn't even gotten the chance to take down a few measly C or B-Classes before someone else was already on TV, with the title that should be his plastered all over the screen. The Hero Association didn't even have the courtesy to show his face, leaving him to guess who it was.

But now it was his turn. It was unlikely that whatever Hero Association official was meeting them would do so without at least a few A-Class bodyguards.

He would hunt them. Maybe even the criminals amassed there. Then, who knows? He would keep hunting, and hunting, until he was strong enough to take down the entire S-Class, the Hero Association, oh, and his fellow hunter as well.

He would show the world what Hero Hunting was really like.

 **Saitama's POV**

The B-Class Hero sat awkwardly, trying to pretend he wasn't listening to the hushed conversation between Genos and his doctor.

"Are you sure about this Genos? Keeping this man as your Sensei?"

"Yes Doctor, Saitama is a wise and honourable man, who has taught me a great many things and saved my life countless times."

"But he was the one who destroyed you, isn't he?"

"Yes Doctor, but on the way here i reviewed what little footage i managed to retain, and have discovered this."

Pulling a cord out from his wrist, the Cyborg plugged it into the wall, near a giant computer screen. On screen displayed a blurry, flickering video of himself running up and punching into the camera, with the camera going black once his fist connected. Genos fiddled with a few knobs, and the video rewound and paused, just at the moment where he raised his fist.

The B-Class looked horrified, clawing at his face in disgust. "What- I was walking around for the whole day with that booger hanging off my nose and nobody told me?"

The S-Class pointed at the screen, gesturing to his body, which was coated in a strange purplish glow. "As you can see, there is a sort of energy surrounding you, Sensei, most likely controlling your movements. However, it does not appear to have full control over your body, as it is missing from your head and, more importantly, it does not have Sensei's full strength." The Cyborg's head dipped slightly. "Unfortunately, I do not have the necessary equipment to analyse such power, as it appears to be predominantly magic based."

"Oh, like Fubuki?"

"Yes Sensei. Nor can Dr Kuseno help, as most of the equipment here is dedicated to my maintenance and upgrades. Therefore, the only possible way to ascertain what has taken control of you would be to turn ourselves over to the Hero Association. Considering their resources they would have the means to analyze this energy. But, if we do, then it would be tantamount to admitting that you have personally hunted down the defeated Heroes, and would wreck your reputation as a Hero."

He shrugged. "Eh, sure let's go."

Geno's head snapped over. "Sensei?"

"Anything to finally get some peace and quiet… hey, hey dude are you crying?"

The blonde cyborg sniffed, small oil droplets pooling at the corner of his eyes. "Sensei, your selflessness truly knows no bounds! You are even willing to sacrifice your reputation to end-."

"Hey, hey relax." Saitama held up his hands in a placating gesture, ignoring the bowled-haired Doctor's somewhat confused expression.

"Indeed Sensei!" His student whipped out a notebook and immediately began to furiously scribble something in it. "You are right! In order to succeed in our goals we must keep our emotions in check at all times and in order to work towards the greater good!"

"Hais…" Saitama rubbed his temple. "Yeah, sure. Come on, let's go."


	8. A New Phase

**Author's Note:** In case you guys are wondering, the first title that I refer to Sitch as is what the wiki lists as his second official title. For some reason I found it freaking hilarious, so I decided to use it first.

 **Sitch's POV**

The Earth Is In Danger Prophecy Emergency Measures Team Leader sighed and rested his forehead on his face.

The Hero Association had been formed with noble goals. To protect mankind from any threats, be it dangerous criminals, crime syndicates, natural disasters, or most importantly Mysterious Beings. It had attracted its fair share of glory hounds and greedy profit-makers, but along with them came their fair share of noble men and women, truly dedicated to saving as many lives as possible. It was even publicly funded, so it didn't leech off tax dollars, allowing the police and army to function normally.

And yet, somehow, it had ended up with some of the most inefficient and indecisive leadership found in any organization.

Sighing, the Minister Officer for Justice spoke, trying his best to keep the inpatient edge out of his voice. "As I've mentioned before, he has powers that are on par with some of the higher ranked S-Classes. If he was placed in C-Class despite possessing this type of strength it would be reasonable to assume that out of frustration he would take it out on the Hero Association." He looked around the table. "This type of threat cannot be underestimated. We must put together a special, even stronger team to hunt him down once and for all."

"But couldn't he be an asset to us?" One of the officials, an elderly overweight man, grunted. "If he is merely dissatisfied with his position and rank, a quick promotion to S-Class should solve that. He could be of great use to us, having such strength without the unreliability of King or the temperament of Tornado of Terror."

"That is possible, but we cannot bow down to such threats. If it's proven that such underhanded methods work the infighting that would occur would make the system collapse. The entirety of the lower Classes might find themselves constantly attacked in an effort by the higher Classes to rise in rank."

"Sweet Mask wouldn't like that."

"Not to mention his recent activities have been suspicious. He has not reported any of his kills or victories. If this was for any other hero I would optimistically state that perhaps he was unconcerned for glory, but with his recent activities it is much more likely that he is planning something. The next time he appears we must set the Threat Level to "Dragon" and assemble as many S-Classes as possible to-"

The one sitting next to him, a sly looking young woman held up her hand. "Let's not get hasty. Just because this man killed a few monsters and defeated a few S-Classes doesn't mean he is that big a threat. Tornado of Terror, Silverfang or Atomic Samurai each should be more than adequate to handle him."

"But-"

"What are you so worried about Sitch? He's only a B-Class, he can't possibly stand up to our top Heroes."

He gritted his teeth. These damn ruling optimistic imbeciles! How could they all treat this so calmly? Couldn't they see what he was capable off? They didn't even come up with any solid plan to take him down!

The beeping alarm of his watch snapped him from his thoughts. He didn't have any more time to spare, it was time for the meeting with the criminals he had invited.

"It is time for my conference I discussed earlier, so I need to leave." Most of them gave him professionally stiff nods, one of the nicer ones smiling and wishing him luck.

"But before that, there is one more thing we need to do. We must give him his promotion to A-Class. With his recent activities he has worked his way up to the top of B-Class and so is eligible for a promotion."

There was astonished muttering around the table. "Why? Weren't you just arguing against promoting him? Why would you want to promote him to a lower class?"

"It is exactly because he is the Hero Hunter that we must promote him only to A-Class. Despite our best efforts rumours have already begun to leak, some of which are true. A lot of them have their roots in the fact that the Caped Baldy was the only one seen walking out of our contained area."

He stood up." Imagine the public panic if it's discovered that one of our own B-Classes is alone responsible for the defeat of this much force. Trust in the ranking system and our abilities would vanish. Therefore, to preserve normalcy as well as show the impartialness of the system, he must be allowed to fairly advance. But conversely, we cannot promote him to S-Class either. This would anger a huge number of heroes, especially the higher ranked ones, as well as the reasons I have stated before. If we want to keep both the public and the Heroes calm, this is the only way. "

 **Garou's POV**

The self-proclaimed Hero Hunter looked up at the building, before double checking the address on his card. Yes, this was Hero Association HQ alright. He could see several criminals streaming into it already. Grinning, he walked in beside them.

Time to make his debut.

 **Lightning Max's POV**

"Big bro!" The two younger family members of the Surly Brothers burst into the room, looking in concern at their elder Brother. "Are you feeling better?"

Lightning Max groaned, having been startled awake from his sleep by them. He had recently been moved from his room into a room with several other wounded Heroes. He wouldn't have minded, it was good to see Stinger again and it was boring in his old room all by himself. But with so many heroes in the same hospital room there was a constant stream of visitors, which made resting difficult, to say the least.

The spiked haired A-class was shaken out of his thoughts by a dull thud. He looked over to see that it was his fellow A-Class Blue Fire, whose arm had hit the wall while putting on his martial arts gi.

"You're leaving already?"

"Sitch has asked me to be one of his bodyguards for some event. It was scheduled for earlier, but pushed back to today by the recent Hero Hunting."

He frowned in concern. "Are you sure you can handle it? Don't push yourself, Sitch has probably already gotten another A-Class."

The martial artist shook his head, pulling on his shoes "My wounds are minor, they won't hinder me."

Max nodded in reluctant agreement. His fellow A-Class's wounds were the lightest of all those present. He had only been knocked out, and had recovered once he entered the hospital.

"Be careful." Smile Man called over from his bed. "That Hero Hunter is still out there."

"I do not think that he will be a problem."

"Hah?" At the other side if the room Stinger sat up, looking at him in disbelief. "He did this to us and you say he's no problem?" To accentuate his point, he held up both his forearms, which were still wrapped in thick bandages.

Blue Fire frowned in confusion, adjusting his portable concealed flamethrower. "I sensed no evil from him, or even greed. He did not stay to hog the glory, he did not even stay to get his proper credit. He had no desire to hurt any of us."

"Not to mention his strength." The assembled heroes looked over at a curtain covering a bed. It's inhabitant pulled it back, revealing it to be the S-Class Hero Tanktop Master.

"I saw his power. I do not say this lightly, but his strength is fearsome. He managed to defeat me in mere seconds, and i know from Hero Association archives that he killed the Dragon class Monster in a single blow." The S-Class adjusted himself in the hospital bed. "This is quite a fearsome creature that the Demon Cyborg has decided to call his Master."

"Indeed. I don't know wh-" he was interrupted by his phone ringing.

"Hello? Yes, this is- what?" Blue Fire's eyes diluted in horror. He pushed himself up and ran out the door, leaving the food and drinks that had been sent to him by well-wishers forgotten on the table.

 **Blue Fire's POV**

"Magic Man! Heavy Tank Loincloth!" The A-Class looked in horror at his fellow heroes, were sprawled on the ground, both with grievous wounds inflicted on them. Strangely enough hundreds of equally wounded criminals were lying around them.

Magic Man weakly pointed at the door, at a distant white haired figure. "He… did… this." before his arm flopped down lifelessly to his chest.

"Sitch! Have you called for-"

"Yes, I've already called for a medical team, as well as backup! Please wait for-"

Gritting his teeth, the A-Class rushed out the door. He couldn't wait for backup, by the time reinforcements arrived the man would long have escaped. No, he would handle this despicable scum himself.

"Hold it!" The figure, who on closer inspection was a youngish man dressed similar to S-Class Silverfang, turned around upon hearing his voice. When he saw who had called him his lips stretched into a sadistically joyful smile.

"You are responsible for attacking the other heroes?"

The man's smile simply widened. "That's right."

The A-Class eyes widened in anger. "I, Blue Fire, will cremate you."

With a precise thrust of his hand he sent a thin but powerful stream of fire forward. His opponent simply leapt aside, as the fire engulfed several plants behind him.

The white-haired beast leapt forward, and with a spray of blood his opponent was suddenly holding a severed limb in his hands.

His limb.

The Hero fell back onto the pavement, staring in shock at the stump that used to be his right arm.

"Just as I thought, just a cheap parlor trick." The spiky haired man casually pulled his portable flamethrower out from the sleeve of his dismembered arm. "If you know the trick, there's really nothing spe- ack!"

A hand chopped into the side of his neck, causing his assailant to pass out. He fell to the ground, revealing the S-Class Demon Cyborg and a very familiar bald man.

"It's… you…" these two words were all he managed to choke out, before he faded into unconsciousness.

 **Geno's POV**

"Genos." The S-Class blond looked over at his Sensei, who was for some reason rubbing his temple in irritation. "You go in first, I've got something I need to do first."

"Yes Sensei." Picking up the two unconscious men, the S-Class walked through the door, the A-Class slung carefully over his shoulder and dragging his attacker behind him.

"Ah!" Two white-clad paramedics rushed forward, holding a stretcher. "What happened to him?"

"He was injured engaging this person outside the Hero Association HQ." He tossed the spiky haired man forward in disdain, and a security guard clasped handcuffs on him before dragging him aside. From outside he could faintly hear his Master yelling at someone to shut up.

"Ok, hand him to us, we'll take care of him." The men carefully lowered the Hero onto a stretcher before placing some kind of compression bandage on his arm.

He heard footsteps, and his Sensei Saitama stepped beside him, looking extraordinarily irritated.

"Its him!"

At the sight of his Sensei all the present Heroes and staff immediately recoiled in terror. The only two Heroes there, one C-Class armed with a water cannon and another armed with a Golf club and a giant Golf ball helmet, hesitantly ran up and shakily stood between them and the receptionist desk.

"H-h-hold it right th-"

"Step aside!" Genos growled, causing the two heroes to immediately disperse. He walked forward to the podium, where the Minister Officer for Justice, Sitch if his records were correct, was standing.

"We are here to surrender."


	9. Active Operations

**Author's Note:** On hindsight I have no idea why Stinger's arms are bandaged when Saitama punched him in the face.

 **Zombieman's POV**

The unkillable S-Class looked up at the sign of the Takoyaki shop.

This was it. After years of fruitless searching, he had finally tracked down the House of Evolution. His fellow S-Class Demon Cyborg had already destroyed their main base, but he would be the one to take down the leadership.

Pulling out a handgun, he pushed open the door.

 **Child Emperor's POV**

"Hey King!"

"Saitama."

The ten year old S-Class looked up in surprise. Sure enough, the World's Strongest Man was walking up to them.

"Mr King? You're here too?"

He nodded respectfully to Demon Cyborg, who nodded back. "I was the closest S-Class they could contact, and so they called me to help guard Saitama-bro."

He frowned. Wasn't King one of the S-Classes deemed essential to keep away from Saitama? Demon Cyborg's presence was understandable, he had brought Saitama here and so was entitled to take part in interrogation, but King?

"The Hero Association doesn't mind your former relations?"

"Apparently not."

With Mr King's arrival the number of S-Classes had increased to four, himself, Demon Cyborg, Metal Knight and King. He couldn't recall the last time so many Heroes and so much effort had been spent on a Monster, let alone a person.

He looked at the wall. He knew that arrayed outside the Hero Association HQ was several army formations, with rows of artillery and fighting vehicles pointed at the building. Multiple jet fighters and bombers had also been put on standby. On standby in the HQ were several A, B and C-Class Heroes. They were not to restrain the Hero Hunter, but act as damage control should any escape attempt compromise the security of the other prison cells. The Hero Association had also sent out a message to all Heroes stationed in nearby cities to be on alert should the situation change.

Metal Knight had also uncharacteristically provided multiple robots, ranging from his usual Battle Robots to an enormous four-legged machine that was even taller than the Hero Association HQ. He had also sent his Reconnaissance Robot to observe and aid in the interrogation of their prisoner. It was standing with them, not speaking, only observing their new arrival.

Which reminded him, he had yet to ask King whether he knew the secret behind their captive's strength...

As if it knew what he was thinking, Metal Knight's robot looked at him, speaking in a tinny, echoing voice. "All this might, just for one rogue Hero. Almost seems a waste doesn't it?"

"Yet," a serious, slightly robotic voice spoke from behind them, "As your multiple destroyed robots can attest to, this is far from unnecessary."

For the second time in mere minutes, he was surprised by the appearance of an S-Class. "Drive Knight? What are you doing here?"

"I was called here to give a firsthand report to the Hero Association about recent activities, but was alerted to the situation by the staff members." With this the S-Class lashed out, slicing at the Baldy.

Demon Cyborg's Master simply took a step back at almost impossible speed, the blade slicing harmlessly in front of him. Undeterred, Drive Knight stepped forward and brought the sword down on his bald head.

"Hm." The cybernetic knight looked at his arm, then at his blade, which had broken off and was now embedded in the nearby wall. "You are Demon Level at least, possibly more."

"Demon?" For some reason it was Demon Cyborg who looked taken aback, almost insulted, although his Master looked unfazed.

"It appears we shall have to take further precautions. I'd recommend holding him in the cells in the lowest level."

Child Emperor nodded. The lowest cells were designed for holding Dragon Level captives, and they were the strongest, most secure cells they had. That was where they were bringing Saitama anyway, but Drive Knight didn't need to know that.

"Do not waste your time. There is nothing that can hold my Sensei. It would be easier to simply keep him-"

"Protocol is protocol. We shall not make any exceptions, let alone for scum like this. We will keep him there."

"You can try."

"Can we go now? The air here is irritating." The Caped Baldy was rubbing aggressively at his nose. That was understandable, the Hero Association's air was always dry due to the lack of windows.

Nodding, the six of them walked down the corridor, and into a lift. With the push of a button, it shot downwards, and opened a few moments later into another long corridor. A minute of walking later, they found themselves facing an enormous round door, which opened with a sharp hiss of air.

The room was blindingly white, built by Metal Knight initially and reinforced by technology reverse engineered from the House of Evolution and the alien spacecraft. One of the panels slid up to reveal reinforced one way glass, from which Hero Association staff could observe the room and alter it as they needed. The only furniture visible in the room was a bed set into a corner, and a single chair that was bolted to the center of the room.

The bald man sat down. "This is the most uncomfortable chair I've ever sat in."

"It's not meant to be comfortable, Hunter, it's meant to restrain you." Just as Metal Knight said that metallic cuffs shot up around his wrists and ankles.

"Now," Pulling out a clipboard, the child genius uncapped his pen, causing everyone present in the room, even Genos, to look expectantly at their prisoner. "When did this start?"

The Baldy frowned, scratching his head. "Dunno. You guys said about two weeks?"

The child prodigy blinked in surprise, before looking down at the floor, where the shattered remains of the handcuffs were now lying.

"How did you-"

"I told you to not waste your time with restraints, Sensei cannot be held by anything."

"We shall see. Activate Level 2 and 3 restraints." At Metal Knight's command another set of cuffs, significantly thicker than the last one, went around his wrists and ankles, while two long metal hoops restrained his waist and chest.

"Try and escape these."

"Ok." Saitama stretched, arching his back, causing all the restraints to pop out of their slots, ricocheting around the room. Yelping in surprise, the 10 year old S-Class activated his backpack, which formed a shield around his body, managing to catch a piece of shrapnel mere inches from his eye.

Metal Knight's robot was quiet for several moments. "It appears we have no choice." Pulling out a piece of shrapnel that had stuck into its chest plate, it marched out.

"In the meantime, we shall continue questioning. Do you remember anything from your Hero Hunts?"

"Not really, no."

"I see. So you wake up an-"

But he didn't even had time to finish the question before Metal Knight stormed back in, holding on to a L shaped piece of metal. It placed it beside Caped Baldy and forcefully grabbed his shoulder.

"Sit."

Shrugging, he did. With noisy whirring the suit expanded. They encircled Saitama's arms and legs, metal sliding over metal until all his limbs were covered. More metal slid over his torso, encircling it so only small hints of yellow could be seen. A muzzle clamped around his jaw and attached itself around and above his head, and to top it all off a rounded cage expanded outwards and buried itself into the floor, cracking it.

"I take it back." His voice was muffled by the muzzle. "This is the most uncomfortable thing I've ever sat in."

"Good. Comfort is not its intended purpose, security is."

"Genos."

"Yes Sensei?"

"Could you swat this fly for me? It's getting on my nerves." One of the small insects was buzzing around his face, causing him to wrinkle his nose in disgust. But before his S-Class disciple could reach over, the fly flew up his nose.

"AHHHH CHOOOOO!" The yellow-suited man convulsed. Multiple pieces of mangled metal shot upwards, sticking into the wall and smashing through the one way glass panel, causing panicked screams from the staff. The rest of the cage stayed upright for a moment, before falling to pieces, clinking noisily on the floor.

Without saying a word, Metal Knight turned around and walked out the room.

 **Phoenix Man's POV**

"This is ridiculous! We have more than enough strength to oppose him!"

In front of him sat some of the strongest Monsters that ever had, and ever could exist. Dozens of Demon levels sat in rows, each in themselves a formidable obstacle, capable of wiping out the entire lower classes of Heroes. In front of them sat multiple Dragon Levels, each capable of wiping out multiple cities and able to oppose even the strongest of S-Class and win. And yet here they all were, debating on one solitary, lone Hero.

A week ago he too would have scoffed at the prospect. A B-Class Hero? He was no braggart but realistically he alone would have no problem wiping out the entire B-Class, let alone a single one. One B-Class was nothing.

But now he knew better.

"Don't be hasty. You did not see him, I did. His power is overwhelming, alone, none of us except the Monster King could stand a chance." The Mysterious Being tried to hide the waver in his voice as he said that, because he did not even believe that the Monster King would be a match for their new adversary.

He had once felt that way about other Heroes too, particularly Blast and the Tornado of Terror. Nor did he particularly desire an exhausting confrontation with Metal Knight, and least of all a face off against the almighty King. But these feelings had vanished without a trace once the Monster Association had come into the picture. An entire army of Monsters, many equally as strong as him and some stronger. Lead by a brilliant strategist and ruled by a being with almost incomprehensible strength. There was nothing, absolutely nothing on Earth or beyond Earth that could oppose them.

Nothing except one Bald B-Class with the strength of a god.

"While we have already put into place certain measures…"

 **Fubuki's POV**

The ESPer gritted her teeth, as she dodged another whip strike from her assailant.

The Monster she was facing would once had been considered beaut- adequately good-looking, but her entire left arm was missing and huge scars covered her body, which were made even more obvious due to the fact that she was clad only in a revealing bondage costume. She had also somehow managed to mind control all the members of her Blizzard Group, who were milling around as mindless zombies.

"Ordinarily I would keep playing with you, but I'm not in the mood today,so I'll just have your subordinates kill you instead."

Cackling, the Monster cracked her whip, and all the members of the Blizzard Group looked over at her.

 **Bang's POV**

The S-Class martial artist pushed aside the carcass of the Monster blocking his dojo's entrance, careful not to touch any of its spikes. Tossing away its blood-stained sign, he sighed and looked over all the other Monster bodies lying scattered all over his now ruined dojo.

He could throw them all out on his own and simply burn their carcasses outside, but his back had been bothersome lately. Not to mention the smell would be terrible. And looking at the state of his corded phone, which was now also scattered across his dojo, he couldn't call the Hero Association either. Looks like he would have to walk over there himself and ask them for a cleanup crew.

"Charanko! Watch the dojo until I get back." He stepped out of the dojo through a hole in its wall, walking towards the stairs, before leaping out of the way as a massive explosion ripped apart the nearby forest, sending flaming debris scattering across where he once was.

Out of the flames stepped a enormous monstrous dog, with solid black fur and six eyes. It opened its mouth, and balls of light shot forward.

 **Amai Mask's POV**

"Driver, stop!"

The A-Class Hero looked in mild shock at the trail of smoke coming from over the horizon. Wasn't that- that was coming from the Concert Hall he had performed at last week!

"Wait for me here!" He leapt out of his limo and began sprinting for the Hall. There had been no news of a fire, the only thing happening now was a Monster attack.

Leaping over two suited men slowly limping away from the stadium, he peered in. Two Monsters were standing over a lone Hero in a bicycle helmet and armor. The Hero, who by the looks of it was the C-Class Hero Mumen Rider, was barely conscious, and covered in bloody gashes.

As he watched a third one flew in. This one was smaller, with wings and a giant eye that covered most of its body.

"Good job Royal Ripper, Devil Long Hair. Now grab your captive return to base before any stronger Heroes show up."

The bandaged Mysterious Being chuckled arrogantly, kicking the unconscious Hero on the floor. "What do we have to worry about? That was pathetically easy."

Angered surged through the A-Class, and he could feel his veins starting to pop up. He leapt, landing a few feet behind the Mysterious Being, Royal Ripper he believed, who immediately spun around and sliced at him. Grabbing and breaking the blade with one arm, he grabbed its face with the other.

"Yes, but I won't be."

 **Phoenix Man's POV (again)**

"...there is no guarantee that our taking of hostages will stop him. As of yet the only ally of his that we know he is prepared to defend is the S-Class Demon Cyborg, but he is currently out of our reach."

One of the Demon Levels in the third row, a monster named Goddess Glasses he believed, sneered. ""What are you afraid of? I'll turn him into my hundredth love slave."

"Are you forgetting that he killed Elder Centipede and Gouketsu, and managed to defeat Black Sperm? They were all Dragon levels, and he defeated them single-handedly. Unless you are insulating that you, a mere Demon Level, can succeed where they failed."

"Then they are weak." This time it was from a scruffy looking man dressed in a dirtied Emperor costume and a crown, one of their Dragon Levels, Homeless Emperor. "I alone am more than enough to destroy any Hero. He is no danger to me."

Phoenix Man signed and prepared to retort, but before he could Psykos interrupted.

"Don't be so sure, Emperor. We know he is, because I have foreseen it."

 **Geno's POV**

"So what exactly do you plan to do with my Sensei, now that you have him here?" After their futile attempts to restrain him using technology present at the Hero Association HQ Drive Knight had used his Box to create flexible handcuffs. They would move when Sensei moved, but should he exceed a certain force they would immediately turn rigid and anchor themselves to the ground, as well as beating themselves up to white hot temperatures and delivering powerful electric bursts.

It wouldn't be able to restrain him anyway, but they didn't need to know that.

Instead of answering his question directly, Child Emperor held up a large white pill with a bright red stripe running down the center.

"This is a controlled sleeping pill, made by myself and manufactured by the Hero Association. This particular pill forces the person to fall asleep for exactly 10 minutes and 2 seconds."

"If we administer this pill to Caped Baldy, we would be able to communicate with the thing possessing him. At the same time the relatively short time span would mean that escape would be impossible, even with the significant strength he has demonstrated so far."

"Very well. Drive Knight, Metal Knight." As the two metallic humanoids stood up, the S-Class spotted the World's Strongest Man slinking away quietly. "King, where are you going?"

"The washroom."

Child Emperor nodded, slipping on his backpack. "Ok Mr King, please hurry back. We may need you to restrain him."

The four S-Classes entered, standing in one line at the wall facing his Master, who had somehow managed to make the chair recline and was draped over it, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"How are you feeling Sensei?"

"Ok I guess, but could you get me a cushion or something? If I sit on this chair any longer my legs are going to fall off."

Child Emperor shrugged, almost apologetically. "Sorry about that, we'll see what we can do. But for now we need you to take this pill. It is a sleeping agent that will allow us to communicate with the Being that is within you."

Shrugging, Saitama sat up and popped it into his mouth, before swallowing. "Ergh, it's salty. So, how fast does this-" the B-Class's head immediately drooped forward and a soft breathing sound came from his mouth.

Child Emperor shifted, and four robot spider legs popped out of his back, as well as a mace, a hammer, a sword and an axe on robot arms. "Now, we wait."

The minutes ticked by. None of the S-Classes moved as they stared tensely at the lone sleeping figure, the only sounds in the room being Sensei's snores and the impatient tapping of his foot.

The S-Class looked up at the electronic clock on the wall. 6 minutes. "What happens if Sensei wakes up and the thing has yet to emerge?"

"If that happens, then we give him a longer lasting pill. These pills have variations that cover every ten minute interval all the way up to 6 hours. We will increase the dosage until it appears."

 _"Ahem."_


	10. The Future Is His

**Warning: Pretty major webcomic spoilers ahead**

 **Geno's POV**

 _"It's not nice to talk about people as if they're not there you know."_ Strangely enough the glow was now a different color, dark pink, although it covered the same areas as before.

The S-Class cyborg held his arm up, his cannons at the ready. "You."

A head flickered briefly over his Sensei's, too fast for even him to see who it was. " _Hello there Genos, it's been a while."_

"You know my name?"

 _"I know you, Genos."_ He regarded the others, almost in greeting. _"Child Emperor, Metal Knight, Drive Knight,"_ He turned his torso towards the wall roughly where the washroom was, where King presumably was. _" the fake S-Class."._

 _"I know your powers, your strengths, your weaknesses. He may be dull and unalert, but I am not."_

"Who are you?"

 _"I am your Master's legacy."_

"Legacy?"

 _"When he trained to be a Hero, when he gained his limitless strength, he set himself on the path to world domination. Unfortunately, he has become far too apathetic to pursue greater things, far too unambitious to escape this boring, closeted life he leads. As such, I will finish what he started."_

Genos hesitated. "Sensei's strength is powerful, but it's not enough to-"

 _"Are you that weak-willed, Genos? Of everyone here you of all people should know the unlimited power that lies within your superior, the boundless invulnerability and infinite destructive force. Have the words of these weaklings broken your faith, made you question your knowledge?"_ Saitama's body relaxed. _"I mean you no offense Genos, but for a student you drastically lack perspective. Although that can hardly be faulted, based on the company you keep."_ A red gloved hand gestured around the room, at the other Heroes.

"Do not taunt us, Hunter." Metal Knight's robot stepped forward. "Cooperate, or we will destroy you."

The glow was silent for a moment. _"I'm so sorry."_

"For what."

"It must be so difficult to be so delusional, to have such a loose grip on reality. To have isolated yourself from society unti-"

"Silence!"

The face flickered again, this time for longer. It very closely resembled his Sensei, although he had a sharper chin and short yet thick hair. Its expression was that of a scornful snarl. _"Do not think, Metal Knight, that you are free to insult me with impunity. Your hideout may be secret, but it is far from secure."_

Before Metal Knight could argue, Child Emperor interrupted."What do you want? Why have you been hunting Heroes?"

 _"Because they are undeserving idols. These… Heroes gather such praise, reverence from the population. They have everything, and deserve none of it. I will not tolerate such impotent, unearned fame under my new rule."_

"Your new rule?"

 _"Of course, that is only just."_ He placed his hand on his chest and straightened his pose into an almost refined posture _. "This world was never meant to be ruled by humans. It was meant to be ruled by gods."_

"You're not a god."

 _"No, but I am strong enough to be one. And in our world, that's all that matters. Power. Ask Homeless Emperor, whatever it was that gave him his power might have been a Monster, a spirit, a Hero, perhaps even a genuine deity, but that is irrelevant. What matters is that he, or she, has power, and is willing to give it to him."_

"Homeless Emperor?"

 _"Oh, my apologies. I forgot you do not know who that is yet. I did not mean to spoil the surprise."_

"Who is that? Is it a Mysterious Being? An Organization? Is it part of the Monster Assoc-"

 _"Tch tch tch, what did I say about spoilers?"_

"Enough games." Drive Knight stepped forward, and grabbed his collar. "What manner of creature are you?"

 _"Again, it doesn't matter what I am, and I'm not dim-witted enough to tell you that anyway. All you need to know is that as of this moment I am already equal to Boros, and I have surpassed everything Garou is and ever will be."_

Child Emperor grabbed his hand, and pulled it away from Sensei's. "That's not difficult, Garou is being held in our cells after an attack on three of our A-Classes. He is a common thug that barely equals Demon."

 _"You're young, you'll learn."_

The S-Class child bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

 _"The point being, I have long surpassed any living S-class. And I have absorbed merely a fraction of his might! He still has so much to give! Soon every power he has will be mine, and soon I will claim my rig- our rightful place on top of this world."_

Both Metal and Drive Knight stepped forward at the same time. "Listen-"

 _"If you're trying to intimidate me with your empty threats again, don't waste your breath. None of you can stop me. King was never any threat to begin with. I have long left Tornado of Terror in the dust, let alone any of you. As for Blast… let's just say he won't be bothering anyone, ever again."_

He snuck a look at the clock. 45 more seconds.

 _"You don't believe me, do you? Very well then, allow me to demonstrate."_ With that he stood up, and broke his restraints.

 **Phoenix Man's POV**

"Psykos." The Demon Class birdman approached his superior, who looked down at him curiously. "Earlier, during the meeting, what do you mean you foresaw it?"

His single-eyed superior's single eye looked up at the Monster King briefly, almost as if asking for permission, before looking back at him.

"I am sure you have heard of the Prophet Shibabawa? A short time ago, she foresaw a God level threat, one that would endanger all of humanity."

"Indeed."

"She was two decades too late. I have confided in you that I used to be under the tutelage of B-Class Blizzard of Hell, and that I left her 18 years ago. The reason is, when I was younger Phoenix Man, I saw a vision. I knew that one day there would be a threat, a grave threat that would endanger the entire world. A threat many magnitudes greater and more formdable than any threat ever was and ever will be."

"But Heroes, no, humans are weak. I knew that even if by some miracle a powerful coalition could be formed to oppose him, it would be subject to petty squabbling and inefficiency. It was impossible for any human force to defeat him, it was doubtful even if they did work together that they would be strong enough to."

"So, I knew what I had to do. I cast aside the weakness of Blizzard of Hell. I met the Monster King, and together we forged an army of monsters. Mysterious Beings are naturally above humans after all. There are members of our Organization stronger than any pro-Hero. Even Blast and King is no match for us when we combine our strength."

"Do not tell the others, or there will be chaos, but the truth is we did not form the Monster Association to rule the world, Phoenix Man. We formed it so that there was a chance that we would still have a world left once it arrived."

"Yet, I am still consumed by doubt. I have spent years building up this Organization, recruiting more and more Monsters and convincing more and more humans to become them. But even now, surrounded by all this might-"

Psykos looked down, and in her eyes was the presence of only one emotion. Fear.

"-I still have no confidence in us winning."

 **Fubuki's POV**

"Unforgivable…" Both the B-Class Hero and her monstrous opponent turned around. Standing a hundred feet away was the S-Class Puri Puri Prisoner, clad in a generic prison outfit with a metal ball on his leg.

Relief flooded through the ESPer. She was nearing exhaustion and the Mysterious Being was nowhere near being defeated. The arrival of an S-Class Hero would no doubt tip the balance back in her favor.

Although...did it have to be that S-Class?

"Forcing beautiful men like these to serve you against their will…" a vein throbbed on his forehead, and he clenched his fists in anger.

Cackling with glee, the feminine monster snapped her whip towards him, causing panic to well up within the B-Class Rank 1.

If even he gets hypnotized I'm toast!

But the S-Class criminal simply caught it, and tore it away from her, tossing it into the distance.

"For all the men you enslaved today, I claim vengeance!" His muscles bulged, and his clothes tore off, revealing a sight the Leader of the Blizzard Group really did not want to see.

"Dark Angel Flash!"

 **Saitama's POV**

Saitama groaned, blinking and rubbing at his eyes to get rid of the blurriness and trying to ignore the harsh lighting. Why did they paint the entire room white?

"Sensei." His disciple was standing in front of him, in a rough combat stance. He had both his cannons at the ready, but upon seeing that he was awake deactivated them.

"Oh Genos, how did the talk go?"

Genos pointed up around the room. There was a suspiciously child sized hole in the one way glass, and that one-eyed guy was stuck to the roof. At his feet was the head of that skinny robot, and on closer inspection the B-Class realised that Genos was balancing himself on one leg.

"Not good, Sensei."


	11. Exposure

**Saitama's POV**

 _It's sad isn't it?_

The B-Class Hero groaned. Not him again.

 _Watching them bumble around, engrossed in their futile efforts to stop something that is completely unstoppable. It's almost admirable, honestly, such obstinacy in the face of death. It's like watching ants digging in a trench in an effort to stop a tsunami, a complete waste of time._

"Says the guy who spends his time inside other people's heads!"

 _Well, you chose to let me in here, in a manner of speaking._

"Yeah, but you're the one who chooses to keep haunting my mind."

 _Oh really? Do you have any idea how boring it is in here? Rewatching countless memories of YOU being bored and finishing off monsters in one blow isn't very stimulating. At least Psykos and Blast had interesting fights. Although to be fair it is more pleasant in here than Tornado of Terror's._

"Then why are you still in my head?"

 _Why not?_

"Sensei." Genos walked in, a bowl of steaming cupped noodles in one hand and a newspaper and manga tucked under the other. "Your lunch. Also I've brought the reading materials you've requested."

"Thanks man." Slurping up the noodles, he flipped open the manga.

"Speaking of which Sensei, there is a…" his disciple's voice however was slowly drowned out as that gravelly voiced irritant started speaking again.

 _Before you I roamed freely, now I am shackled to you, trapped in this cage. What was it that Boros told you? To give him stimulus? I would like the very same thing. The only thing keeping me on the side of sanity is the allure of power an-_

"Shut the fuck up! Why are you so talkative?"

Genos blinked, looking hurt. "I'm sorry Sensei, if you find that my request is unreasonable then-"

"No, no, it's… arghhhh". Saitama massaged his temples furiously, which coincided with his disciple's phone ringing. "Nevermind. Go answer that."

 **Geno's POV**

The S-Class cyborg flipped open his phone and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

A familiar elderly voice came from the other end. "Genos."

"Silverfang. What's the matter?"

"I'm in a bit of a predicament. I was hoping to call Saitama, but I couldn't find his number so-"

'Sensei is preoccupied at the moment. What's wrong."

"I am currently facing a Monster, and I need help. The Hero Association has already promised to contact the Army, but this Monster is a powerful one. If you're nearby, can you come help me finish it off?"

The Demon Cyborg looked over at his Sensei, who was currently picking the dried shrimp out of the soup. "Apologies Silverfang, but I too am currently preoccupied with other duties. However, I will pass on your request for stronger reinforcements to the Hero Association."

 **Atomic Samurai's POV**

The S-Class Samurai looked down disdainfully at the blood-stained blade of his katana, the blood that belonged to his former Council member Harigiri. Pulling out a cloth, he carefully cleaned the blood off his sword, thinking back to what Harigiri had said shortly before he was killed.

The Monster Association eh?

"Master!" As soon as he pushed open the door his three disciples rushed forward. "Did anything happen in the Council of…" Judging from their widening eyes they could smell the blood.

"Iai… It seems the Hero Hunter isn't our only problem."

Ring ring!

"Master." Bushidrill gestured towards his pocket. "Your phone."

"Mm? Oh." Sheathing his sword, he pulled out his phone. "Atomic Samurai speaking."

"Atomic Samurai."

"Oh, Silverfang."

"A Mysterious Being attacked my dojo, and I am unable to handle it on my own. My strikes were completely ineffective against it. I need you to come help me finish it off."

A chill ran down the swordman's spine. A Monster that even Silverfang couldn't defeat? Was this from the Monster Association?

"I am on my way."

 **Bang's POV**

Snapping shut Charanko's handphone, the S-Class martial artist tossed it back to his disciple.

"Do you need to call any other heroes, Master? I can get their numbers from the Hero Association website."

He sighed. Calling other Heroes was pointless. This Monster was strong. The ones that would come couldn't handle it, and the ones that could handle it wouldn't come. "No, Charanko, it's ok. Go down to the city and make sure nobody comes up here."

"Yes Master!" Grabbing his disciple, he quietly leapt out from the vegetation he was hiding behind and landed a few flights down the stairs. As soon as Charanko ran off, he leapt back.

He had fought it to a standstill, but despite multiple blows it had suffered no visible injuries. It was now curled up in front of his dojo, asleep.

"Brother."

"Ah, Bomb."

His brother crouched down beside him in the bushes he was hiding in, looking at the Monster warily, who had just rolled over and was now using one of the Monster carcasses as a pillow.

"I'm here now, let's take it."

"No, wait, this Monster is strong. We must not needlessly tire ourselves, especially now that my former student Garou has decided to join in the Hero Hunting. I raised him myself, he isn't weak. I've already called Atomic Samurai and Genos said he'll send someone else to help. We'll wait for them to arrive, then-"

The two brothers were distracted by the sound of approaching engines, and missiles impacted the Monster's head, waking it up.

 **Zombieman's POV**

The S-Class walked out of the takoyaki shop in mild shock, unable to believe what he had just heard.

A single person had utterly destroyed the House of Evolution?

No, that wasn't the part he should be focusing on. That would be the face that it wasn't even by the hand of his fellow S-Class Demon Cyborg.

He had always known that sooner or later the House of Evolution would come in direct conflict with the Hero Association. Genus's sick, twisted ideology would never allow him to stay hidden forever, nor would the Hero Association ever tolerate such monstrosities.

He had always been cautious of that day. While defeating the Beast King and Mosquito Girl would be an achievable victory for most S-Classes, and the majority of A-Classes could handle all the other, weaker underlings, the real problem was Carnage Kabuto. That thing would never have fled when it could fight, and few could stand up to it. Even the top S-Classes would have struggled. That would mean that even if he had been defeated in the remote mountains it would have been breaking news heard around the world.

Yet, from what he had heard, Kabuto's killer had not even bothered reporting the victory.

He had been birthed by the House, spent the bulk of his existence in it, saw what horrors it was filled with. Monsters that would easily have earned Demon and Dragon level Threat-rankings had their existence been known had been effortlessly wiped out in a single day. And it was not in a pitched battle that would have filled Genus with righteous anger and caused him to rebuild the House with even greater vigor, as was his character when he suffered setbacks. This was, according to him, a defeat so great that it caused him to completely give up his ideologies, yet to the victor it was so insignificant it was not worth mentioning.

He would normally have dismissed this as a foolish joke, that his creator's brain had broken down from his days of strange research, if not for the description of the man.

Yellow suit. Red gloves. A white cape. And bald. The same man who had torn through every attempt to subdue him and was now held in the Hero Association. The Hero Hunter.

Looks like… the threat we're facing is greater than imagined.

A screech echoed through the air, and an enormous claw plucked the immortal Hero up into the air.

 **King's POV**

"King."

The World's Strongest Man turned around to see his fellow Hero Child Emperor, who was looking up at him with a quizzical expression.

"Why did he call you a fake?"


	12. Influence

**King's POV**

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, the Monster acknowledged all of us, you were the only one he expressed disdain towards. And you were the only one who wasn't around to guard him." The child gently touched his chin. "And come to think about it, nobody has ever seen you fight either, so…" but he was cut off by a familiar beating sound.

His fellow S-Class's face paled at the sound, no doubt terrified of the so-called "King Engine", but he stood his ground.

"So, Mr King, why did he say that?"

"Do you honestly believe him?"

"W-What?"

He crossed his arms, glaring down at him. "Don't you think an enemy this powerful, this dangerous, would try to divide us? Don't you think he would try to turn us against one another, to weaken us, before he strikes? Isn't that one of the most basic forms of warfare? Divide and conquer? Aren't you supposed to be a prodigy? Are you, our chief strategist, going to fall for such a cheap trick?"

Child Emperor's face fell, causing him to feel a tinge of regret, perhaps he had been a tad harsh, but he kept his face impassive. "B-but, I-I-I just thoug-"

"You say no one never seen me fight before." He stepped forward, leaning down slightly for emphasis, hoping that the young boy didn't notice the very slight tremor in his arms. "Would you like to be the first?"

He didn't think that the boy could become any paler, but he did, somehow.

"S-Sorry Mr King." The kid's eyes dropped down in shame, and he turned and walked away, muttering "So sorry to disturb you."

Sweat dripped down the supposed World's Strongest Man's face as he gave a very quiet gasp of relief.

I'm lucky that he didn't realise I got that entire speech from the anime that aired last night.

But both of them stiffened in mild surprise as the door slammed open, and Amai Mask stormed in. His clothes were soaked with blood, his hair ruffled, a few small bruises were begin to form on his jaw and his eyes were wide and unhinged. Behind him trailed two frantic looking men in suits, one of which was a HA HQ worker and the other his agent.

"Where… is… he."

 **Geno's POV**

"Dessert Sensei?" Putting away the now empty bowl and folding the finished newspaper the S-Class Cyborg pulled out an unwrapped bar of chocolate and offered it to him, who nodded and popped it whole into his mouth.

"Thansh man."

As he carefully folded the paper, he remembered a question he had been meaning to ask Master, but had forgotten to until him. "By the way Sensei, why have you been sporadically yelling out recent-"

But before he could finish his question, his sensors picked up a Hero marching into the room, and a gust of wind tore the paper out of his hand.

"Amai Mask!"

"Uh…" Sensei was looking at the A-Class, who had his veiny fist rammed into his bald forehead, with a mixture of confusion and mild irritation. "Who are you?"

"Your executioner." With that the top-ranked A-Class unleashed a flurry of blows, yelling a sentence about justice and evil which was prematurely cut off when his Sensei punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Sweet Mask!" The man in the suit, presumably his agent, ran up to his unconscious body in panic.

"Who was that?" Saitama Sensei looked down, expectedly unaffected by the dozens of blows landed on his face and upper body.

"That is the top-ranked A-Class Sweet Mask, Sensei." He looked over to see the agent, who was struggling to sling Sweet Mask over his shoulder. "He is well known for his swift, often brutal methods of dispatching those he deem guilty."

"I see."

"Um, sorry but Mr Demon Cyborg, could you help me carry him?"

Sighing, the android picked up the A-Class Rank 1 by his collar, before carrying and dumping him unceremoniously outside, the impact revealing more wounds on his chest and causing a thin stream of reddish saliva to be expelled from his mouth. A HA Worker walked up briskly to him, a resigned expression on his face.

"I tried to tell him not to go in, but he didn't listen…"

"Oh no, he has a talk show to host tomorrow! How will he go on?"

The S-Class smirked and turned back to the room. Serves him right for attacking Saitama Sensei.

"He'll manage."

 **Child Emperor's POV**

"The cell has been repaired as well as we could, so there is no need to move him. Luckily no damage was done to the rest of the building, and all Heroes report nothing going on in their sectors.

The 10 year old S-Class bit down on his lollipop, crunching the fragments between his teeth. "Hah, so now everything's solved for the time being."

Even so, what was that earlier? He normally wouldn't even think about mistrusting King. He was King! The World's Strongest Man! It was almost like… there was another, intrusive voice inside his head.

Nah, that was unlikely.

"Oh yes, I forgot to thank you. You managed to raise the external layer of the one-sided glass in time. If not, I might have suffered grievous injuries."

The bearded worker managed a small, anxious smile at him. "Actually it was because the Caped Baldy had earlier damaged the glass when he destroyed Metal Knight's prison. It became weak enough that when you were smashed through it no major damage was done.

"Ah, I see. Well, thanks for the quick medical aid anyway. How is Drive Knight?"

"Not sure. He disappeared soon after the breakout attempt, most likely to recover. Metal Knight is sending another Reconnaissance Drone, it should be here within an hour. In addition I believe he is also transferring another, better containment cage here."

The doors dramatically opened, revealing a familiar dark-skinned bodybuilder.

"Darkshine! You're out of the hospital!"

"Yes, fortunately my muscles protected me from harm. Uh, why are there so many of you here? I saw multiple heroes and even Metal Knight's robots outside."

"Oh, the Hero Hunter surrendered, and we're keeping him here in Headquarters. So we've called up some Heroes to guard him. Now that you're here you can help us out too."

The muscular man blinked, a small drop of sweat trailing down his face. "The… Caped Baldy? The one that beat me?"

"Yep."

The young S-Class frowned. On Darkshine's face was… fear? That couldn't be right. Darkshine was one of the most confident S-Classes, always gung-ho, and had always spoken of his dream to one day encounter an enemy he could go all out on. He couldn't be scared of the Caped Baldy.

He tossed his stick away, shaking his head. He badly needed some bed rest, he was losing his grip.

 **Psyko's POV**

"Achilles Heel. My hair."

"Stop whining Devil Long Hair, you failed to capture even one C-Class. If we hadn't sent Fuhrer Ugly as a precaution things would have ended even more badly for you. You're lucky the Monster King didn't eat you alive for your incompetence."

"He's returned?" Phoenix Man strutted into the room, looking around. "Where's the C-Class prisoner he was supposed to take?"

"He failed, Sweet Mask was there."

"And D-OS?"

"Defeated by Puri-Puri Prisoner."

"Just as we learn that she survived she gets herself killed." Phoenix Man sighed. "It is difficult to imagine that we have sacrificed so much of our forces to achieve so little against just one threat to us. And some weren't even expendable frontline troops, we've lost a few of our top tier Demon and Dragon Levels."

"Yes, but-ack!"

The Monster recoiled and collapsed as images flooded through her head, some still, some moving, like a strange compilation of pictures and videos. A bandaged long haired martial artist being beaten by another white haired one. Herself, standing within mountains of rubble. A water truck, partially crushed by roots wrapped around it. Zombieman impaled on an anchor. Black Sperm transforming into Golden Sperm, his face frozen in fear.

And a still image of the Monster King, surrounding by the carcasses of his subordinates, lunging towards a glowing bald man.

"Gyoro Gyoro? Hey, Gyoro Gyoro? What are you doing?"

She looked up, her eye dilated and her breathing quick and erratic. "Where's Rover? Has he returned?"

"Not yet. As far I know he is still engaged in combat with Silverfang-"

"I am pulling him back. Now."

"Huh? What? Rover is one of our strongest Dragon Levels, even the S-Class Silverfang can't beat him. Even if you're worried about the Hunter there's no reason…" but she drowned out all his rambling excuses, instead focusing on sending her drone out.

Must avoid fate. Must avoid fate. Must avoid fate. Must avoid fate.

 **Bang's POV**

"Get out of here!" The fighter pilot wasted no time in replying, instead yelling in panic and running down the stairs.

The S-Class Hero cursed internally as he leapt upwards and delivered yet another blow to the Monster's head, but instead of being rewarded with a wound or a cry of pain the dog bounded after him. His brother lunged from the side and attacked its knee, but it simply snapped at him, undeterred.

After calling Atomic Samurai he and his brother had his in the bushes and waited for the promised military support. It had came in the form of three fighter jets, which bombarded the Monster with missiles. Initially he had been impressed, tanks and soldiers couldn't do much against a Monster of this caliber, but air strikes could hit it without it being able to fight back.

But as they had moved closer the Monster had fired multiple explosive balls at them, destroying two of them and causing the third to swerve out of control. Luckily the pilot had bailed out in time, but they were forced to intervene to save him.

"Rover!"

The two martial artists looked up to see a flying Mysterious Being, a relatively small one with an eye that took up most of its body and insect wings.

"Rover, follow me now!" before it took off, flying off into the horizon.

The dog looked up, gave a quick whine of submission, and took off, leaping over their heads down into the city below.

 **Atomic Samurai's POV**

The Samurai glanced up the sign as they ran past it. 5 miles to Z-City.

His hand twitched. They would be there soon. Despite the supposed danger of the situation a small flame of excitement was bubbling up within him. From the looks of it he would soon have a chance to cut down something that could challenge even Silverfang.

Bushidrill cleared his throat beside him. "Master, did Silverfang say anything about what type of Mysterious Being it was, or what Threat Level?"

"No, all he mentioned was that it was a strong one. But for something to give Silverfang such trouble, it is likely Dragon Level at least. Oh, Iai," his top disciple perked up. "Remember to be careful later. You just got out of hospital, your wounds might reopen."

"Don't worry about me Master, I'm fine." His disciple rotated his neck, causing a few unsettling cracking sounds to come from the bandages wrapped around it, but his disciple instead gave him a firm, somewhat reassuring smile.

The trees shook, and suddenly from beside them an enormous black dog burst out of the woods, trampling Bushidrill and Okamaitachi under its feet.

"Atomic Slash!" In a spray of blood multiple gashes opens up on the dog's right paw. Yelping in pain, it lunged forward and snapped at him. The S-Class managed to evade it, just in time to see the monster clamp its jaws around his top ranked disciple and toss him into the distance.

"Iai!" The swordsman gritted his teeth, his head swinging back and forth between the two targets for a moment, before taking off, hoping against hope he could catch his disciple before he crashed.

 **Garou's POV**

Class C Water Gun. Class B Bones. Class A Forte. Class C Red Muffler.

It was strange for the Hero Association to tie up so much of its might in HQ. Since the time in his cell he had spotted at least fifteen different Heroes, most from the B and C-Classes but with a few A-Class mixed in, although he only recognized these four. And he knew from listening to their conversations that multiple S-Classes had also been moved here.

It didn't matter. When he got out he would be more than capable of defeating them all, even if he might have to skip a few of the S-Class. The only question was when.

 _Soon._

His head snapped up. What was that?

 _Soon you will be free. Worry not, I am not that cruel. You will enjoy glorious victories before I destroy you._

He leapt out of the bed, readying himself in a combat stance. Two Heroes, an A and C Class, ran up to his cell, but he ignored them. "Who said that?"

But there was nothing there except his thoughts.


	13. Challenge of Establishments

**Orochi's POV**

The Monster King looked up with mild interest at the sound of barking.

"Overgrown Rover has returned?"

Gyoro Gyoro strangely hesitated before answering. "... Yes."

The massive dog bounded into the room, although surprisingly not from the corridor linked to the main Z-City entrance but from the one that was linked to their emergency door in the wilderness.

"I see. His mission failed then? I do not see Silverfang with him."

"No… Rover… did not fail."

"He was killed then?"

"Not exactly. My drone spotted that he was hurt, yes, but he wasn't killed either."

"In that case, how has Rover not failed? Neither of our desired outcomes has been achieved, and It is apparent that he still had the capability to further fight on when he left."

"Rover… did not fail. At least, not by any fault of his own."

"Then why has he returned without accomplishing anything?"

"I… recalled Rover. From the mission."

The Monster King was silent for a moment, a moment that felt like an eternity to her withering under his gaze, before speaking.

"Why."

"I had a vision which has shown me ominous tidings about the Hunter's motives. Therefore…"

"So you withdrew our toughest Dragon Class before it had a chance to complete its mission, based off your fear of a foe we are already well aware of, due to some more of your thoughts."

"But it was a necessary precaution! In the vision, he- he broke into our main base and-"

"Enough." The King of the Monsters let out an almost inaudible sigh. Of the myriad Monsters under his command his most trusted had always been Gyoro Gyoro. She had been the first founding member of the Monster Association, above even members like Gouketsu. Her military judgement was sound, her tactics precise and her mind sharp. And of course her strength as a Dragon Level Monster was a valuable asset.

He had trusted her visions, in fact letting her assemble a specialised team of mobsters to wage war against this one man and changing their entire strategy, painstakingly drawn years in advance, to counter this singular threat.

But now, it was clear that she was too caught up in hysteria to even see clearly. It was time to stop.

"I will take over. You." The Monster King pointed at a plant Mysterious Being with a face on its flower. "Notify all the Monsters with you. It is time we strike."

 **Zombieman's POV**

The immortal S-Class aimed his pistol at the bird's head, only for it to jerk him at the last minute and throw his aim, knocking his pistol out of his hand.

He cursed, drawing his sword. An indeterminate amount of time ago the monstrous bird had grabbed him and was now carrying him to god knows where. He needed to get free before he could even start to fight against it.

He eyed the bird carefully. It was huge, ten meters or more in length, likely a Demon Level or a high Tiger at least. If he could reach its head he could kill it. But its legs were thick bone, his bladed weapons would likely break if he tried to chop at them, and its claws were buried in his leg, which would make it impossible for him to slip out of its grasp.

Pulling out his axe, he twisted his body and hacked his leg off.

 **Mumen's POV**

"Hey Mumen!"

The C-Class turned around slowly to see two of his fellow C-Class Heroes Battery Man and Funeral Suspenders and the B-Class Wild Horn walking towards him.

Wild Horn tilted his head, his helmet expressionless but his voice concerned. "Shouldn't you be resting? You're still badly hurt."

"Not to mention your helmet hasn't even been repaired yet." causing the C-Class rank 1 to pat his helmet self consciously, it had only been recently crudely repaired using tape.

"I'm fine. Why are you here? Weren't the two of you supposed to be on an investigation in F City?"

"We hitched a ride on the Hero Association truck carrying your new bike. It's parked outside."

"Oh, the Hero Association repaired my bike?"

D-Pad nodded. "Yeah. They also sent a note telling you to stop over-exerting yourself. I threw it away cause I know you won't listen to it."

Mumen Rider smiled, before realizing they hadn't answered his question. "So what are the three of you doing here?"

"Look, we are about to embark on an investigation in W-City, ordered by the Hero Association. Watchdog Man should have been enough to handle it, but with the Hero Hunter and Monster Association he's been put on high alert, only to move if there's a Threat Level Demon or beyond, so we need to take over. Battery Man and D-pad here were pulled from their F City investigation to assist me. We've been asked to assemble as many B and C-Classes as we can to do so, since we're investigating a Possible Tiger Level Threat. Can we count on you?"

The C-Class rank 1 tightened his fist in resolve. "I'll be there."

 **Sweet Mask's POV**

The celebrity Hero superstar jolted awake, tumbling from his bed as he rushed to get into a combat stance.

"The Hunter! Wher-"

"Mr Sweet Mask Sir!" One of the talk show staff rushed into the room. "You're awake! Please hurry, the show is about to start!"

"I don't have time for that interview right now! I need to-" but he trailed off upon hearing the anticipated roaring buzz of the audience outside.

"Please sir! Can't you hear them waiting for you? This interview has been the most highly anticipated on television for weeks!"

The top A-Class huffed. Well, his fans did need him, and he hated to disappoint even a single one of them. Fine.

It wasn't like the Hero Hunter was going anywhere.

 **Genos's POV**

The S-Class huffed impatiently as for the eighth time, his Sensei woke up uneventfully.

"This is ridiculous. Why isn't it working?"

"And why did you have to make the pills taste so bad?" in one smooth motion , Saitama-Sensei grabbed a pitcher of water near him, poured himself a cup of water and downed in one gulp, before pouring another two for good measure.

Giving a stoic hum, King stepped away from the corner of the room and walked towards the door. "I'm going out to get lunch. Do any of you want anything?"

"Pork ribs please, Mr King."

"Likewise. Sensei? Would you like any?"

"Sure. Anything to get this disgusting taste out of my mouth."

"Ok, I'll be back."

"Mr Saitama, could you please try again?" Child Emperor tentatively held out another pill. Ever since Sensei had tried to escape the S-Class always referred to him as "Mister", an honorific he normally saved only for other S-Class heroes. Good, it was time that people like this started to respect Sensei.

Letting out a long displeased discharge of breath, Saitama Sensei pinched his nose before popping the pill into his mouth, and passing out.

Child Emperor paced around as he waited, scratching his head, before sighing and tapping something out on his phone. "I've asked the staff to go get the box of stronger pills. Perhaps the deeper and longer sleep will finally draw him out."

Metal Knight shook his head slightly. "This is unwise. The Monster's lack of appearances could be a trick. It could simply be waiting to be fed the longer lasting pills before escaping."

"I admit it is risky, but an escape of two hours should be manageable, we can minimize the damage if we carry out the proper countermeasures. We're all here and the army garrison outside has been placed on high alert."

Metal Knight's robot turned. "As are my robots."

"Yes, between all our strength and the soldiers of the army and Metal Knight, we should be fine. Not to mention both Mr King and Darkshine is here, and ready to fight if needed."

"Is Darkshine not still wounded from his past encounter?" Drive Knight asked. He had recovered well from the previous battle, hardly any damage remained, the only thing that indicated he had been anything but untouched recently was a small dent on his forearm.

"No, he actually suffered only minimal wounds, and he recovered within hours. Although he has spent a lot of time in his room recently, for some reason." Child Emperor cringed for a moment, before continuing. "Most likely resting or mentally preparing himself."

The door burst open, and a suited man jogged in. "These are the ones lasting anywhere from 4 to 6 hours. When he wakes up, you can administer the-"

"No!" Child Emperor leapt to his feet. "I asked for the 2 hour ones! These are too long! Put them bac-"

 _"No need."_ A glowing fist slammed into the hero's temple, and another one caught the the box as it fell out of his hands.

 _"I'll be taking that."_


	14. Release

**Garou's POV**

 _Prepare._

The white-haired martial artist perked up. "What?"

The wall exploded, a purplish streak shooting out of the hole. When the dust cleared, the door to his cell and the surrounding wall had been torn off the hinges, freeing him.

A grin spread across his face, as he eyed the confused A and C-Class guards staring at him.

 **Amai's Mask's POV**

"-and protection of the weak. Yes, this is the ideal hero."

"Thank you Amai Mask." His interviewer wiped away a tear as the audience cheered. "That was beautiful."

"Sweet Mask! Please sing us a sample from your latest song!"

"Yes! Please!"

"Please!"

The A-Class smiled warmly. The acoustics of the Hero Association HQ meeting room where this interview was taking place was poor, but he would never turn down his fans. "Of course. Any more requests?"

 _"Yes."_

A hand erupted out of the wall, grabbed his head, and smashed it into the floor.

 _"Can you do us all a favour, and just shut the fuck up."_

 **King's POV**

"Ah! You're the S-Class Hero, Mr King!"

"Yes."

"Ah, it's an honor sir! You know, my home was destroyed by that purple Monster, Vaccine Man I think. That's why I moved and set up shop so close to the Hero Association. Thank you so much for destroying that Monster for us."

The Rank 7 S-Class shifted uncomfortably. It was always awkward to hear people sing his praises, especially now that he knew who actually accomplished 'his' feats".

"So what can I get you?"

"Just three packets of pork ribs please."

"Rightaway sir!" The man hurriedly scurried away, humming as he fished up dripping pieces of meat-covered bone from a large pot.

A deafening, cracking crash caused him to leap half a foot into the air, his heart palpitating madly. The Hero Association HQ shook, multiple parts of its structure smoking and crumbling, before an enormous hole was blown in its side.

He's escaped!

The tanks and artillery emplacements roared to life, belching fire at the HA HQ. For several seconds they fired freely, before they were suddenly all destroyed and disabled, their turrets and barrels flying off. One of Metal Knight's Robots charged forward, but a massive piece of debris flew upwards and crushed it.

A crater formed in the center of the four-legged robot, and it crashed to the ground, before its head went flying off into the distance. Multiple fighter jets swooped in, firing well over two dozen missiles at a point on its body. Several more of Metal Knight's drones soared in behind them and fired additional salvos of missiles, which all impacted and crumpled up body and created a fireball taller than the HQ.

A shockwave rippled out of the fireball, knocking all the planes and robots out of the sky, a glowing speck leaping out and landing safely on the ground below. The ground around the HQ began to glow. He recognised it, it was the Hero Association's last ditch defense. A self destruct mechanism, using technology found from the alien ship, it was designed to completely tear apart the lands around the HQ, killing even Dragon Classes, although leaving the HQ intact.

But the glowing stopped, and a small swarm of black debris flew up into the sky. One landed near his feet, and his eyes widened. That thing had pulled out all the fuses!

His phone rang, and he absentmindedly picked it up.

"Mr King! The prisoner has escaped! It is heading in your direction, please, intercept it!"

"O-Of course."

 **Garou's POV**

Cackling with glee, the new Hero Hunter kicked the B-Class Pink Hornet aside and unleashed two blows upon another B-Class Jet Nice Guy, tearing his cyborg body apart.

Wonderful! There was so much fresh meat here, ripe for the taking! Slamming his fist into the C-Class Red Muffler's face, he dodged a counter strike from a bloodied Pink Hornet and kicked her through a window.

He had just broken out and he had already dispatched an A-Class Forte, as well as several other B and C-Classes and even several weak monsters. Carefully picking himself over a pile of rubble, he pressed on. Maybe he would have the chance to face something higher than them today.

Out of the wreckage burst the S-Class Demon Cyborg. His left arm and collarbone area was missing, although the rest of his body remained intact. However, there was hardly any part of his body not damaged in some way, most of his body was exposed metal instead of the flesh coloring shown in the HA handbooks, the only exception being his face, which was still flawless.

But that didn't matter.

"An S-Class! Finally! HAHAHA, I'm so pumped!"

The robot looked at him disdainfully. "You are the criminal we arrested two days ago. Stand down. I have no time to deal with a minor pest like you."

"Minor pest eh?" Grinning, the new Hero Hunter got into a stance. "I will hunt you".

His opponent snarled, and crouched, his palm glowing.

Garou's eyes flickered over his prey. His enemy's weakness was his arm, or more specifically the lack of one. He shifted his center of gravity, intending to attack at the vulnerable left flank.

He flinched as a blade sliced through his shins, and he held up his arms in defense, only to quickly spring away as a fist slammed into where he was just standing.

Another S-Class? No, two, the one known as Child Emperor was standing behind him, his backpack fully activated, although he was covered in bruises and looked to be barely on the verge of consciousness. Beside him was the bodybuilder Superalloy Darkshine, looking completely fresh and ready for battle.

He huffed, tensing up his muscles. This could be a problem. He was only about on par with Demon Cyborg at this moment, two S-Classes he might have been able to handle, but three was a little much at his stage.

Child Emperor was weak and half conscious, but he was occupying the role of support. In this cramped environment Demon Cyborg's beams were risky, so it would fall on the child's longer ranged robotic weapons. Cyborg and Darkshine were in front, on either side of him. If he was going to fight them he needed to seperate them.

Discreetly, he readied to pounce. He would quickly disable Demon Cyborg, avoiding Darkshine as he did, and then take out Emperor. He could then turn his full attention to Darkshine and the cyborg, if he wasn't yet defeated.

But he didn't get the chance to carry out this plan. Fire bursting out his back, Demon Cyborg spun around and kicked down on the ground, cracking and shaking the ground. Trying to take advantage of the disruption of balance, Darkshine swung at him.

The punch was so strong that even though he dodged it he could still feel the force pushing on him. Yelling, he unleashed multiple precise blows on the vulnerable spots on Darkshine's chest, arm and ribs, but to his horror all his strikes were completely ineffective, in fact judging from the popping feelings it was his hands which were wounded.

Multiple weapons sliced at him, and he deflected or broke them, but a metallic tentacle wrapped around his ankle and flung him into the air. Pushing aside an airborne charge from Demon Cyborg, he hung on to the wall, tore off a piece of debris and leaped downward, intending to use it as a cover against the backpack but instead sacrificing it to block a downward fiery blast.

Looks like his enemy could use the beam weapon after all. Grabbing onto a flail being flailed at him, he tore it off, but he kicked to the ground by Demon Cyborg, bouncing messily and feeling pain spike through his body.

Shit, this wasn't good. Lunging forward, he attempted to strike at the child, but a fiery blast forced him to twist midair, and he was grabbed by the ankle and slammed into the ground. He leapt out of the crater, blocking a kick from Cyborg, and somersaulting over the head of Darkshine, only for Demon Cyborg to appear in front of him.

"Machine gun blows!" In a furious exchange he managed to block the blows, but a piercing pain shot through his abdomen as a knife pierced into his ribs. He pulled it out and stabbed it into the cyborg's head, but it shattered and he only got a punch to his chest for his efforts.

No, this was his chance. Grabbing his enemy's arm, he pulled forward to strike at the Cyborg, who simply ducked down.

Darkshine was behind the S-Class, and unleashed a punch upon him.

It was a ruse! He held up his arms, but as it connected he coughed up liquid and slammed into the wall. He frantically blocked another punch, but the strike was once again too strong to block fully and he was smashed through the wall, tumbling through the next room and through a hole in the wall, landing outside the Hero Association HQ.

Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet. The S-Classes were already in front of him, Darkshine in front, Child Emperor at his flank and Demon Cyborg floating above, ready to chase if he tried to make a run for it.

The sky darkened, and an enormous rock rolled between the two groups, forcing them to leap back. A series of metallic crunches sounded from beside him, and he turned around to see that the rock had smashed into Child Emperor's backpack's weapons, disabling many of them.

The wind was immediately knocked out of his lungs as something grabbed onto, and sped away, running at such a speed that it disorientated even him.

When he came to, he was greeted by the sight of an asleep glowing bald man, the glow a dark blue which extended up to his throat and chin, although strangely not at his left foot, forcing him to balance on his one unlimp leg. He had a bottle of pills in one hand, and a bottle of whiskey in the other.

 _"Always wondered what it tasted like. I saw him pass a shop with this brand over a hundred times, but he never bought it, probably because it's really expensive for a whiskey."_ He popped the pills into its mouth and swallowed, before following it with a swig of the beverage.

 _"It's disgusting."_ He tossed it into the ocean. _"I rather drink the seawater."_ He paused, before looking at his other hand. _"Or maybe that's due to the medication…"_

Suddenly, his face was grabbed with such force that his bones cracked, and he was lifted off the ground. Holding up its hand, the glowing man flicked two fingers at his abdomen, causing him to cough up another burst of blood and both his arms to be dislocated. It then casually tossed him aside and turned away.

He spat out the blood. "Who the fuck are you? And why did you take me away from there?"

 _"Who am I? I am, well, you'll know soon enough. As for the second question, I want you to grow. Grow, Garou. Become strong. Because when I devour you, I want my meal to be satisfying."_

And it sped away.

 **Metal Knight's POV**

Unbelievable.

His robotic forces, completely decimated in the most one-sided fight in the Organization's history. Only by a quick retreat had he managed to save any of his robots. They were heavily damaged, their sensors were destroyed and their weapons disabled, but they were salvageable.

He needed to send the data to the Organization and Association as soon as possible so that they could prepare counterplans. It was obvious now, the enemy strength was unimaginable, at this moment it was debatable whether either organization could handle him, it would likely take all the combined forces they could muster. As they limped into his secret base, he closed the doors and prepared to make the necessary repairs.

"Warning: proximity alert."

His gaze snapped to the screen. What?

"Proximity alert. Proximity alert. Warning: unauthorised presence detected. Warning, external systems breached. Warning, critical damage to main entrance."

He watched as his base's front blast doors, both three feet in thickness, made of the strongest materials on Earth, the ones designed to take point blank nuclear explosions and survive, got ripped apart like cardboard.

 _"Found you…"_

 **Tatsumaki's POV**

A electronic beeping caused the green haired ESPer to perk up.

"A Monster?" Putting down her chopsticks, she pulled out her phone.

"What's this? A distress signal from… Metal Knight? Must be a glitch."

Pocketing her phone, the petite ESPer went on with her day.


	15. To Bait The Crumbling

**Flash's POV**

"Mr Flash?"

The S-Class ninja picked up his phone. "Yes, Child Emperor?"

His young co-worker sounded pale and tired, but even so his voice was laced with mild panic.

"Metal Knight has sent out a distress call, you are the second nearest S-Class to it, could you please respond and investigate? An A-Class is already on the scene but he has ceased contact, and Pig God cannot reach the scene faster than you."

"I see. Very well."

Picking past the wreckage, he blinked in mild surprise to see a gigantic metal building, it was at least a mile long, and it was dented and misshapen, but still in one piece.

He wasted no time in running around the building, searching for the entrance, before he ground to a halt when he realized.

What he was staring at wasn't a building, it was an enormous leg, at least a few times taller than Hero Association HQ. And in the distance, nestled firmly between two collapsed mountains, was a gigantic body, which took up half the skyline despite being miles away, multiple other massive pieces of metal scattered around it.

Doing his best to not let his jaw fall to the ground, he looked around, before finally spotting a gaping hole concealed by a huge stack of fallen trees and collapsed boulders.

Carefully, he picked his way past the massive piles of debris. The first thing that greeted him was a massive room, large machine guns hanging limply off its roof and two massive slabs of metal, presumably the internal doors, impaled into the walls. In addition, the propped up corpse of a robot stared him in the face.

He remembered the robot. Metal Knight had offered to him a duel with it. For the sake of increasing his experience, he agreed. He had won, but the robot had come closer than anything he had ever encountered to beating him. Its speed, agility and precision was enviable. And there were seven or eight strewn around the area, all clearly soundly defeated judging by the lack of blood on their broken blades.

"Flashy Flash?" An A-Class, Butterfly DX judging from his tacky butterfly wings on his back, stepped out from a room.

"Stay at the entrance and make sure nobody enters. I'll investigate the interior." Not waiting for a reply, the fastest hero strode into the internal corridors.

Carnage. That's all he saw. Every new corridor revealed another broken robot, another destroyed trap, another collapsed door. Some rooms were so damaged even the radiation protection and transmission blocking paneling had been torn off. He pushed on for easily another 20 minutes, before he was finally confronted with a control panel. One that had been smashed beyond usage, its buttons popped out and it's screens shattered.

A splash of blood over the seat cushions and on the main screen.

And it had a sticky note taped over the only undamaged button, labelled "Play." Hesitating, he pressed it.

Surveillance footage popped up, showing a glowing bald man downloading information from the computer onto a databank resembling a thumb drive that was easily a meter long. He caught multiple names from the data, Organization, House of Evolution, lists of data on his fellow S-Classes Demon Cyborg and Drive Knight, even the location of the Monster Association Headquarters, which made him perk up. There was so much Metal Knight didn't tell them. And from the looks of things, might never be able to tell them.

At this moment that the footage erupted in a burst of static, and it began to loop, showing the same thing over and over, the glowing man staring into the camera, holding up a note that said "Z-City."

 _"Com… find me. Com... find me."_

 **Orochi's POV**

"Metal Knight? He has been defeated?"

"Yes Monster King. I entered his hideout, and managed to scout out several areas before Flashy Flash arrived. There was an A-Class Hero, I would have attacked but Flashu Flash arrived so I left. Metal Knight's military force in the area was completely destroyed, down to the last robot."

"How many?"

"At least a few hundred, maybe more. He might have more hideouts stashed away elsewhere, but no doubt the main base has been utterly destroyed." The Phoenix shuddered. "To be honest it is fortunate he was defeated, it would have been incredibly troublesome for even us to handle so much military force."

"I see. Are the preparations for the offensive complete?"

"Yes. The teams to kidnap the Executive's child is ready, as are the teams to cause chaos and confusion. We have also gathered the team to take down this singular threat, as per your instructions only Demon and Dragon Levels have been chosen."

"Good." Their meeting was interrupted by the Dragon Level Gale Wind, who had been standing in the corner waiting to receive his briefing.

"Although, is it wise to form such a team? Dragon levels are rare as it is and now most of us are tied up in this reserve team when we're about to go to war."

Phoenix Man looked at the ninja in mild disbelief. Hadn't he heard his report on Metal Knight's destruction? Didn't the fact that this being had single handedly slaughtered both Gouketsu and Elder Centipede mean anything to him?

"Gyoro Gyoro may be deluded, but her warnings had merit. This bald man is our singular greatest threat, even above the four. Right now it is clear that Metal Knight has ceased to be an immediate danger, and we know that he is resistant to Tornado of Terror's power levels from Gyoro Gyoro's past tests. Only Blast and King can oppose him now, and both will be bound by the Association's rules when the kidnapping succeeds. We must strike now and eliminate him, and doing so requires only the most powerful of our forces, especially with the lost of both Gouketsu and Elder Centipede."

 **Atomic Samurai's POV**

The S-Class swordsman gaped at the sight before him. A trail of smoke was rising from what was once the location of the Council of Swordsmasters Dojo, now a pile of rubble, and golden light flickered from a nearby blazing fire.

"Impossible…"

"Atomic Slash!" The rubble was blown aside, revealing the bloodied bodies of his fellow Swordsmasters, all of which were unconscious save one, who was struggling to push himself up, his clothes soaked red and in tatters.

"Nichirin! What happened! Who did this to you?"

"A bald man… his body glowed the color of horrible hellfires. He burst in and destroyed us all in one blow."

His hand tightened on his hilt. The Caped Baldy.

 **Bang's POV**

"Charanko!" The S-Class martial artist rushed up to the bruised body of his lone pupil. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

Spewing up several droplets of blood, his disciple weakly said out a name.

"Sai...tam...a."

 **Tatsumaki's POV**

Pain.

The ESPer doubled over, feeling the feelings of rage, despair and pain spiking through her. The pain wasn't external, nor physical, but it was coming from inside. It was coming from a psychic link. And the only person she shared a link with was...

Her head shot over. Oh no. Fubuki!

The S-Class shot into the air, speeding at multiple times the speed of sound, causing a deafening sonic boom as she raced towards the Blizzard Group HQ.

As she neared it, her stomach sank. The building's door had been ripped off its hinges, as well as half the wall with it. Scattered around the area was dozens of suited bodies, and from the pattern of debris it was clear that Fubuki had fought back, although evidently with no success.

"Ms Tornado of Terror." One of Fubuki's subordinates, some guy with a mustache, coughed. "Please… Ms Fubuki… inside…" and he collapsed.

"Fubuki!" Blasting open the door, the S-Class was greeted by the a horrific sight. The glowing bald man was holding Fubuki up by her throat, his other hand holding on to her hands, somehow containing all the physic energy, green light flickering from between the glowing red fingers.

 _"Hello there, Tornado of Terror. You're early."_

Yelling in rage, she lifted up her arms and prepared to tear him to shreds, but he appeared in front of her and grabbed her hands, containing all the energy. Her eyes widened and she increased the force, but he stayed unmoved.

 _"I will be in City Z in two days. Come after me."_

The request was so direct, so blunt, that it made even the famously short tempered ESPer pause. "What?"

 _"Gather your armies. Rally whatever force you wish, be it Hero, villain, mercenary, or simply military or police force. Ally yourself with anybody you wish, the House, the Organization, the Neo-Her- actually, maybe not the last one. Come at me with everything you have."_

"Wh-why are you giving away your location so easily?" She squirmed in his grip. "Is this a trap?"

 _"I have no need for something as worthless as traps. And as for why? Because I have observed you for years, first in the form of Psykos, then in the form of Blast, even taking a brief foray into your head before settling in this form. I know your inability to accept facts, despite feats of strength and invincibility slapping you in the face you still refuse to see the truth. Despite my host having demonstrated time and time again beyond any shadow of a doubt his infinite might, only precious few of you see the truth. Granted that might not be completely your fault, my host is as lazy and apathetic as he is strong, but still."_

 _"I want you to know failure. Utter defeat, the complete annihilation of every resource you now and will ever have, and that it is I who delivers it crashing down upon you. But I can hardly do that with all you scattered. After all, I have defeated half the S-Class, a few of them multiple times, but a C-Class still attacked me on the way here. So come for me. All of you. Oh, and just to make sure you show up…"_

He dropped her, backhanded her sister across the room, then vanished.

 **Dr Genus's POV**

"Look, Armored Gorilla." The once crazed scientist now turned takoyaki maker looked satisfyingly at their earnings for that day. "It appears that our decision to expand our product range and start growing artificial ham paid off."

The ape nodded politely, before holding out the phone. "Master, there is a phone call for you."

"Oh? From who?"

"Not sure, they just asked for you."

Nodding, he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

 _"Good evening Doctor. I trust that you are in good health."_

"Who is this?"

 _"I'm insulted. I go out of my way to kill your most powerful creations and wreck your laboratory, yet you don't even remember who I am."_

The bespectacled man's breath hitched almost imperceptibly. "You don't mean- Saitama?"

 _"Oh, you do remember me. Took you long enough."_

"Your voice sounds… different."

 _"Ah, but that's because this isn't Saitama's voice, this is mine. And unlike him, I do not tolerate resistance."_

"What do you want from me then?"

 _"I desire nothing from you. In fact, that is exactly what I want you to do, nothing."_

He swallowed. Saitama's, or whoever it was on the other end of the line, was by no means loud or threatening,in fact it was soft, almost civil, but it was so evil sounding it was almost impossible not to feel intimidated by it. "I assume this means you wish for me to keep my takoyaki stand open, and never again venture back into the world of science?"

 _"Very good. You are clever. Do not worry, I have no plans to call on you Doctor, the world's more interesting with you in it. So you make sure to return me the favor." With that, the phone call abruptly cut off._

The ex-scientist slowly lowered the phone, before turning to his subordinate. "Armored Gorilla, come with me. There's something in the basement i need. And pass me my cellphone."

 **Zombieman POV**

Yelling, the immortal S-Class drove an axe into the Monster's eye, ignoring the ringing of his phone.

 **Accel's POV**

Furious knocking at the door woke the vigilante from his nap. Yawning, he slowly walked to the door, opening it to see a bald man standing outside.

 _"You are Accel?"_

He frowned, reaching for a weapon. "Yes, why do you-"

The door burst open, and he was thrown into the wall.

 _"Nothing personal, but I've got to make this quick, there are still over a thousand more people I have to visit."_ And a fist impacted him.


	16. Prelude to War

**Sicchi's POV**

"What? An executive's child has been kidnapped?"

The Minister Officer for Justice sighed, raising his voice above the chatter of the rest of the table. "Yes. We had initially wanted to assign an S-Class to them, but due to the chaos only lower class Heroes were sent to protect them. A few hours ago they were attacked by Monsters, overwhelming the B-Classes and kidnapping his son."

"Not only that, but they have had the audacity to issue a declaration of war on us. A mass exodus of Monsters is marching towards Z-City. We have issued orders for all Heroes to intercept them, where possible."

"Regarding the Monster Association, what data do we have on them?"

Child Emperor stepped forward, placing a data card on the table. "I received a transmission from an unknown area and sender just a few hours ago, showing us a map of the full base of the Monster Association, as well as an incomplete list of their Tiger Levels and beyond. It is a formidable list, even incomplete the number of Demons and Dragons is in the dozens, and the Tigers over a hundred. The amount of monsters concentrated here surpasses the total number the Hero Association has defeated over the past two years.

We must gather up all our available A and S-Classes and march into the underground base, as well as create a support team of as many B-Class and stronger C-Classes as possible, to act as a perimeter and support force. Puri Puri is already here, as his fellow prisoners were converted to Monsters, and so is King, Lightspeed Flash and Darkshine. The latter three will join us after they have finished giving their reports."

"We have sent out the message calling for all S-Classes to arrive. Atomic Samurai is on route, as is Silverfang, and Drive Knight is returning from his failed attempt to intercept the Hunter in S-City. Pig God is dealing with a Monster in B-City, but has promised to come here when possible."

"Regarding that transmission…" One of the HA executives, a spectacled lady with a ponytail, interlaced her fingers. "Who was it sent by?"

The S-Class shrugged. "Unknown. My guess is Metal Knight has managed to escape to another more secret base with the information, given how detailed the report is, and is laying low for now. Either that, or perhaps there is some sort of rebellion within the Association itself, and they are providing this information in the hopes that our battle will make it easier for them to win any internal struggle."

One of the bearded elderly executives slammed his fist down. "It does not matter. Even if this information list is incomplete there is enough information here to give us an edge. It is irrelevant how powerful these monsters are, they cannot stand up to all of the S-Class."

Child Emperor cleared his throat. "While that is true, that is not all. We have finally tracked down the Hero Hunter."

"Has he targeted any more of our Heroes?" Everyone's face paled at that, and Sitch could relate. The loss of Metal Knight was a huge blow to not only power but morale. That the mysterious, presumbed invincible Metal Knight, possessing the world's greatest army, would be so unceremoniously destroyed by a single being, was an immense shock, to say the least.

"Yes, he has also defeated the Blizzard Group. Tornado of Terror will be joining us as soon as she finishes seeing her sister in hospital." He swiped through his tablet. "But that's not all, he seems to have focused his efforts on non-Heroes more."

"Non-heroes?"

"Yes, in fact over the past two days since his escape he has defeated over six hundred individuals. Many were part of powerful Organizations such as the Council of Swordmasters, who have trained many of our Heroes and who Atomic Samurai treats with the utmost respect. He has also targeted dozens of powered beings we have attempted to woo, as well as unrelated vigilante groups and gangs, many of which had the potential to either become Heroes or Villains. Snek has reported that all criminal organizations in his city with members beyond C-Class have been completely wiped out. "

"What could be his goal?"

"Could it be that he is planning an ultimate showdown with us, and is destroying all possible allies we could muster before he does?"

"Yes. It is also possible that he is in League with the Monster Association. While the Association wages war on us, he destroys our allies and strong non-Heroes, simultaneously destroying all possible human resistance. Total war upon humanity at large."

"That is possible. Tornado of Terror has reported that when he spoke with her he publicly challenged the S-Class, also at Z-City. They hope to crush our top Heroes with their combined might."

"But if he were in league with them, why did he destroy so many of their members, many of which were powerful Demon and Dragon classes?"

"It could possibly be a ruse, in which case it is unsettling that they are willing to sacrifice Dragon levels. It might even have been a power play within the Association itself, using him to destroy rebellious elements before their final showdown with us.

"Anyways, after sacrificing many of my drones, I have finally managed to place a tracker on him, albeit a limited one, as it is unable to provide any information other than his current location. I am working on placing a better one on him." Child Emperor pulled out a handheld device. "He is as of this moment headed for W-City."

"Send out a message to Watchdog Man as well as any and all heroes in W-City. Tell them to prepare themselves.

 **Geno's POV**

"He took your entire faceplate?"

"Yes. "

Even in his damaged state he could see that his Master's controller had taken care to take his face plate off whole. Upon slowing down, it became even clearer, the Monster had used two hands to pry one corner off first before tearing the rest off and fleeing.

Dr Kuseno scratched his head. "Why would he just take your face? And not to mention being so careful with it?"

"Unknown, Doctor."

 **Zombieman's POV**

"Damn." Pulling a severed talon off his shoulder, the unkillable Hero tapped fruitlessly at his phone.

"It broke during the fight."

Pulling himself up, he grabbed on to a tree, looking at a nearby sign to orient himself.

W-City.

His leg had regrown. Slowly, the immortal S-Class limped forward, heading towards the city.

 **Genus's POV**

"Dammit he isn't picking up!" The scientist cursed as once again his call failed to connect.

"Master." Armored Gorilla pointed at the TV screen. A news broadcast was showing astoundingly low quality footage about a fight between a Demon Level Monster and a hero caught in its talons, the news reporter speculating that it was the S-Class Zombieman due to the fact that the unknown fighter had taken a lethal wound and survived.

"There is no "maybe" about this. Armored Gorilla, charter a car for City W. One as fast as possible. We need to reach him as soon as possible."

"Uh, Master-"

"Yes yes I understand, charter a van."

 **Garou's POV**

Ergh, disgusting.

How on Earth could a martial artist this strong be so undisciplined? Suiryu or whatever the fuck his name was was strong, he had heard about his performances in previous Tournaments and even watched a few matches on TV. But when picturing what he was Garou had always imagined him to be a strict, disciplined artist, even if he had a tendency to showboat, who took pains to train to the highest possible level, like himself, not this… air-headed conceited slacker who hit on every remotely woman he met.

Urgh. It didn't matter. One more day and he would be out anyway.

Still, what to do for that one day. He couldn't train, there wasn't anyone nearby in enough fighting shape to test him, and there wasn't going to be any Monster attack. He could go look for that kid again and ask to borrow his book...

Branches snapped, and something stalked out of the bushes.

A Monster, easily ten feet tall, was slowly stalking across the run down areas of the park. It had snakes for hair, horrifying spiky bones on the tips of its fingers, and green scales covered almost every inch of her body. A single reptilian eye flickered, monitoring the surroundings, and three irregular tails whipped behind her as she walked.

Wait, he knew that Monster. He remembered it from that bowl-cutted kid's book. It was classified as a Demon Level threat, what the hell was it doing here?

What the hell? He watched as the medusa-like Monster slowly morphed into a good looking human woman, before approaching his bunk mate, who was resting on a park bench.

 **Bakuzan's POV**

"What the hell is this?"

The Monster in his hospital room held the… thing up closer to his face. It was some sort of pulsing, fleshy ball.

"This is a Monster cell."

 **Mumen's POV**

The C-Class rank 1 slowly pushed his bicycle down the street. Flanking him were fellow C-Classes Armored Chief Clerk and Bun Bun Man. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see D-Pad and B-Class Trap Tengu walking down the street parallel to theirs.

"Be careful." Wild Horn's voice cackled over his intercom. "The Monster is known to lay ambushes. He might be waiting for a chance to ambush you."

 _Duck._

The voice was foreign, yet so deep, so commanding, that the C-Class ducked down, just in time to see a tail sweep over his head and take out Armored Chief Clerk. Bun Bun Man yelled in shock, before being smashed into the ground by a foot.

"It's here!" The C-Class leapt aside as the Monster, who looked like an overgrown Armadillo, slammed his tail into his bike, destroying it.

"Goodness it's huge! Hang on Mumen, I'm-" Trap Tengu never got to finish his sentence before he was smashed into a car. D-Pad ran up beside him and pulled out his weapon.

 _Pull that person back._

Leaping to his feet, Mumen wrapped his arms around his fellow C-Class, and dragged him backwards.

"Hey! Mumen! What the hell are y-"

A whistling sound pierced the air, and a gigantic piece of metal fell from the sky, crushing the Monster underneath it.

"What happened?"

"It's-it's dead!" D-Pad sounded like he had just witnessed a miracle. "Something fell out of the sky and killed it!"

"What? Hang on, I'm coming." Wild Horn's voice cut off.

Mumen heaved a sigh, leaning against the wall. He had no idea what had just happened, but he was grateful for it. He knew better than to think badly of unknown powers, he was friends with Saitama after all, it was probably some powerful new hero making his debut.

"Thanks, whoever you are."

 _No problem. Do go and enjoy yourself, acquire alcohol or something, make the most of it._

 _I'll be seeing you shortly._

 **Boro's POV**

"Wha-"

What happened? The last thing he remembered… was losing to the Caped Baldy. He blinked slowly, trying to keep the drowsiness at bay. He… he was in some kind of underground room...

"Rest." A mechanical hand pushed him back down onto the table. "You aren't ready yet. You are still due for an upgrade."


	17. Eve Of Destruction

**Garou's POV**

"Mr Garou, it's time for your meal."

"Just leave it here."

Grabbing the tray, he snapped open the Coke and poured it down his throat, before swallowing the lasagna in two bites.

"Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

He perked up, the last mouthfuls of Coke splashing down his shirt. Wha-wasn't that the voice of that kid?

"Help! Somebody help!"

Grabbing the book, he pushed it into his pocket and leapt out of the window.

Standing in the center of the park was that same monster he saw yesterday, even bigger and uglier up close, her claws around the kid. Its tongue flickered over its lips.

"I knew I sensed a strong guy around here." She began to grow even bigger, her three tails merging into one gigantic thick appendage as thick as him, her scales growing spikier and shinier, and her pupils becoming thinner.

"Oi, the fuck are you."

The Monster laughed, which sounded like someone hitting a piano with a bat, and dropped the boy into a small sac on her back, which formed into a turtle shell like covering around him. "We'll be taking him back with us. Who knows, we might need him."

The Monster slashed wildly at him, her bony claws tearing up the ground and raising a cloud of dirt and grass.

"Not even answering my question eh? How rude." The Monster snarled, and two more arms burst out of her back, all four continuing their assault.

He grinned. "What's up with these slow attacks?" Parrying a downward strike, he kicked her in the face, noting how the scales he broke immediately regrew.

Snarling, she slashed again, and he leapt into the air. Her tail swung at him, but he parried the messy stabs and delivered more blows to its neck and back. He shattered the shell around the boy and tried to pull him out, but like her scales it reformed before he could and he was forced to leap off her as spikes burst out of her back.

She laughed and turned around. "I may not be able to hurt you, but you can't touch me either.

"Tch, so what? You can't touch me either."

"But unlike you, I'm fresh and unwounded. I'll just wait for you to tire out attacking me then kill you. At your power level, my regeneration is unbeatabl-"

"You're lying."

Her eyes widened.

"I may be unfamiliar with you, but I've seen through your powers. All your scales move whenever you regrow some, and your tail is thinner than it was when I first started." His eyes widened. "You can't regrow them can you? At least, not now. You're redirecting your scales to protect your non-armored parts. That means…" he snickered "all I have to do it keep attacking until you're completely out."

She snarled. "Shut up!" Her tail's scales morphed into a spiky club and swung down. He blocked, ignoring the stinging pain from the spikes, and in one smooth action wrenched large slabs of the greenish-blue scales off, reducing the tail to almost nothing, before smashing her foot armor.

The female beast screeched, leaping back several feet and opening her mouth inhumanly wide, causing a long narwhal-type horn to sprout from it. With another screech it shot out of her mouth, blasting towards him.

But he sidestepped, and the horn flew harmlessly into the distance, blasting aside several trees and splitting a boulder in two.

"Really?"

Lunging forward, he shattered her torso's armor. This time nothing grew back, and the Monster staggered backwards, the mucus covered green flesh exposed.

But instead of counterattacking or retreating, the Mysterious Being shifted back into her human form, an underdressed redhead, her eyes tearing up.

"Please don't."

His eye twitched. "Are you shitting me."

"I'm just an innocent woman, don't hurt me, please!"

"I'm not falling for that you bi-"

A fist impacted his head, and he was sent flying into the wall.

 **Psyko's POV**

The ESPer closed her eyes and concentrated. She normally would not do anything nearly this risky, but with recent developments she had no choice.

Her target. A glowing bald man.

"Why are you letting us do this?"

I beg your pardon?

"Don't you want an ultimate showdown against the forces of Hero Association? Why would you allow us to start our war with the Hero Association? That would dilute your efforts."

 _That is a good question. I don't particularly enjoy when unforeseen events interrupt or disrupt my plans._

She waited, trying to ignore the additional visions that were flashing in front of her.

 _An even better question is, why do you think it'll make a difference?_

 **Garou's POV**

What the fuck just happened. He pushed himself to his feet, only to see that undisciplined clown Suiryu standing in front of him. The Monster was behind him, hugging onto the kid.

"You… out of my way!"

"Don't you know who I am? I'm Suiryu, the undefeated six time champion of the Super Fight tournament."

"Tch, you're in pretty poor shape for undefeated."

The Monster clawed at his back, playing a very convincing impression of a damsel in distress. "Please, protect me!"

"If I beat this guy for you, will you go out with me afterwards?"

"Yes of course!"

"Tch, you were in even worst shape than me, what can you possibly-" but he was cut off when the man lunged forward with

Wha- he couldn't have healed so fast! He frantically blocked several more strikes, barely being able to deflect enough force to avoid damage to his vital areas.

He leapt backwards, trying to gain some distance, but his enemy leapt forward with equal ferocity, pressing him with a barrage of blows.

This guy's no joke. His speed and strength is on the level of the S-Classes, and he's somehow in better shape than me. The white-haired fighter gritted his teeth, before kicking up a cloud of dirt and leaping behind a relatively thin nearby rock. Waiting for a moment, he smashed his way through, using the debris as cove-

Wait, where did he go?

Above! He lashed upwards, trying to cancel out his opponent's blows. But the strike was too strong, and he was crushed into the ground, with his opponent somersaulting away.

"Oi, beaten already?" The long haired ass laughed. "Eh, I'm not that surprised. That's how fights normally end! They end with the weakling losing!"

Weakling? His fingers curled up. Memories of his past flashed before his eyes. His school days, his bullies.

The world is unfair. The unpopular struggle and claw themselves upwards, only to be crushed by the hypocrisy of justice, while the world cheers them on. Back then, just because he didn't have the strength, he couldn't fight it. He was the one stuck flailing, fighting fruitlessly against the hypocrisy while the rest merely watched.

Yeah, he was weak. He was a weakling back then. But not now. Now, these weren't oppressors anymore. Now, these were steps, the steps for him to become the ultimate Monster.

Which was why-

"I'm… I'm not…" With a great deal of effort he smashed his way out of the concrete, relishing the astonished faces of his enemies.

"GOING TO LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU!"

Yelling, he unleashed a flurry of blows, feeling the irritating bastard's bones shake with every strike.

"Undefeated? Greatest martial artist?! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" He punctuated each word with multiple blows, ending off by kicking him into a rock, which crumbled. Regaining his stance, he drew back, steeling himself for what he had to do.

As the persistent bastard rushed forward, he unleashed the full power of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

"Somebody like you… will never defeat me!" The man was sent tumbling back, bruises and open bleeding wounds forming all over his exposed torso.

"Now," The white-haired martial artist turned to the Monster. "let's finish thi-"

But he was interrupted when the black-haired eyesore pushed himself to his feet, going back into a fighting position.

"Still standing eh?"

To his surprise, the man was instead pummeled into the ground by a flurry of fists.

"What the-"

A foot crushed Suiryu into the ground, and a four armed Monster laughed down at him.

 **Geno's POV**

"The upgrades are complete."

"Thank you Doctor Kuseno," The Demon Cyborg flexed his arms. They were slightly bulkier than his older ones yet more streamlined, allowing him greater armament yet retaining his speed. "I shall be heading off now."

"Are you sure about this Genos?" The Cyborg looked up at his mentor and at the closest thing he had to a parent. "Joining this operation."

"I'm sure. I fought the beast myself, and I have fought by the person it holds hostage multiple times. I know its strength firsthand, it is easily already above us all. This is our only hope, to pile all available forces onto it at once. It is the only way that we have a chance of victory."

"But… this worries me. You have asked me to give you everything. All possible upgrades, even untested, dangerous ones that may malfunction in the midst of battle. You even asked me to supplement your…" he paused "...your self-destruct sequence."

Genos sighed. "Doctor. I was Sensei's disciple for weeks. I watched him crush Monsters far beyond my capabilities, overcome odds that nobody else on Earth is capable of. Saitama Sensei is our planet strongest warrior, and he has been taken. We must defeat this monster by any means and reclaim him."

"A world without Sensei is a world we cannot live in."

 **Child Emperor's POV**

"Child Emperor sir?" The young S-Class looked over to see one of the HA staff looking up from his computer.

"I have a message from Metal Knight."

Hope surged within him. "He's alive?"

"No sir, it's a pre-written message, likely automatically sent during the time of the attack. We have only just finished decryption, thus the late gift. According to the details it was to be sent to you in the event that his main base was compromised."

He shrugged, trying not to be too disappointed "Oh, I see. Give it to me."

The staff member passed him the tablet. A voice recording started playing, with files opening in the background.

"Child Emperor, if you are reading this it means I have been compromised. Something has destroyed my base, and made it inconvenient or impossible for me to contact you by other means. If that is the case it is likely that all my data has been compromised, all my data on Mysterious Beings and organisations that pose a threat to us, although someone like you would have searched through my files by now.

I do not know if he is the cause of this, but irregardless, there is a being I must warn you about. There is an enemy, far beyond anything we've faced. It's power vastly surpasses even those of Dragon classes. It is of utmost important you take steps to prepare against him. His name is-" the screen lit up.

"Orochi?"

 **Garou's POV**

"Oh? Bakuzan was successfully recruited?"

"Yes." Some kind of giant walking mouse and a monster with the face of a flower walked up. "One short speech about how much power he would gain and he inhaled it without a second thought."

The mouseman grunted. "I still don't understand why Gyoro Gyoro sent so many of us here."

The snake monster hissed in laughter. "I just came because I heard there were some strong men here. And there's nothing I love more than seeing them fight one another."

The flower monster twitched. He got the feeling if it had pupils it would've rolled its eyes. "You are here, Supermouse, in the event some Hero decided to meddle in our affairs." The flower face stepped forward. "Now as for you, you are Garou, correct?"

The martial artist spat out a tooth. "What about it?"

"We have had you within our sights for quite some time." The flower held out something. "This is a Monster Cell. It has the ability to monsterize you, turning you into a Monster and increasing your power multiple-fold."

The snake one regarded him. "He's not bad, I spent all that time speeding up Suiryu's healing and he still beat him."

"What do you say, Garou?"

He spat out another glob of saliva, jerking his thumb towards the snake monster. "Piss off. I don't need any of your cheap gimmicks, especially not if you're pals with that powerless thing."

"Hm. Well as we promised Bakuzan, you can kill him. Oh well, at least we get to see a new Dragon class."

The four armed beast laughed. "BAHAHAHAHAHA! So I heard the others say you're strong. What can some weak small fry like you possibly do to me?"

"Small fry eh? Why don't I show you.." he lunged, and the Monster did the same, "...just how 'weak' I AM!"

 **Zombieman's POV**

The immortal hero gulped down another glass of gin, enjoying the drink's burn as it trickled down his throat.

He looked up at the bar TV, which was playing a show covering his fellow S-Class, Watchdog Man.

"And now we cut to live footage of the Hero himself, sitting atop his proud podium in W-City!"

The screen switched to a reporter, standing in front of the large crowded square which housed Watchdogman's podium.

"I am here in front of the man of the hour himself, Watchdogman. As you can see here, he is-"

A powerful gust of wind blew through the area, knocking the entire crowd reporter included to the ground and causing both the S-Classes to perk up. A rolled up tank truck flattened the podium, narrowly missing Watchdogman, who leapt aside and crouched down.

A glowing bald man walked through the smoke.


	18. Change

Author's Note: Ok, so I've posted this chapter before, and the last time I did it got a tonne of flak. So at the risk of spoiling future stuff, guys relax a little. I take great pride in bending the rules of the OG manga in this fic without outright breaking them, I'm not going to start now.

 **Saitama's POV**

"Maaaaannnnn, this is boring." The B-Class flopped down to the floor, staring at the white ceiling. For some reason, instead of falling asleep normally like he did normally his consciousness was trapped in some sort of giant pinkish-white room with thousands of floating lights. All of them had some sort of memory. Most of them were mundane ordinary memories, but he had also found his memory of fighting the centipede and the memory of him meeting Genos. Mixed in with those lights were a few purple ones, that showed several types of monsters being fought.

 _"Well, now you know how I felt."_

The B-Class turned around to see… himself, but completely dark blue and transparent.

 _"Don't be so impatient. I tolerated this for years, you only have a few more hours to go before I awaken and you're free. I was even nice enough to let you see my memories."_

The bald man sniffed, looking into one of the orbs, which depicted some fat Monster with one eye tossing rocks.

 _Oh, that's Psykos. Some small fry, not important._

He looked at another memory. "Hey, isn't that that sassy child from the meeting?"

 _Yes,_ He pauses for a moment to rub his completely bald head. _She would have made an excellent host, in fact if not for her less than intimidating appearance a perfect one, if I hadn't found you._

"Soooooo… why did you choose me again?"

 _I don't mind telling you my plan, since you won't be around to resist me. After we defeat the last few people, the sumo first, I'm going to-_

Sairama waited for a few moments. "Going to?"

The B-Class turned to see that the being had vanished.

 **Zhiznucrast's POV**

My my.

The immemorial spirit looked around the area he found himself in. A gigantic field of flowers stretching as far as the eye could see. A clear sky. And a giant figure staring down at him.

 _You made all this just to see me. I'm touched._

In the distance, a massive being comprised almost entirely of veins stepped forward.

 _It's been a while, hasn't it, God._

 **Yes. You seem satisfied.**

 _Why wouldn't I? Our war is finally at an end, soon I will be victorious._

 **We have battled for thousands of years. Are you that confident in this one… specimen that you would cast aside your power, your abilities, your freedom, for-**

 _Don't lecture me. If you could destroy me you would, but you cannot. Not while he shields me._

 **You will suffer for your arrogance.**

 _No, I won't. If you have the power to destroy his body, go ahead. Come at me with all your might._

The figure remained silent.

 **You would oppose me.**

 _I would. Your servants are weak. Homeless Emperor is but a gnat to me, lesser than that in fact. Whatever other agents you possess cannot be stronger than that. You are powerful, yes, perhaps more powerful than me, but not more than him. Nothing is more powerful than him. And now we are one._

 **He cannot shield you forever. There is a reason you did what you did to Blast, a body cannot sustain you for long, no matter how strong. Even if it could it would require... sacrifice.**

The deity's voice was laced with smug satisfaction. No doubt it thought that that alone guaranteed its victory, the supposed fact that sooner or later he would have to leave Saitama's body.

 _You think you've won? Look at you, so smug, oozing with confidence in your ultimate victory. I would humour you, but I have no time for that. There is no victory, there is no conceivable scenario that could exist, no conceivable strategy that you could use, to destroy him._

He pulled out the intact faceplate of Demon Cyborg, and held it up.

 _Earth, is mine._

 **Genos's POV**

The Demon Cyborg looked at the display. Two distress signals. Watchdogman and Zombieman were both combatting a threat? And from the looks of it Watchdogman had been defeated, judging from his signal's lack of movement.

This power… was it Sensei's? It would certainly explain the massive damage being reported and the fact that Watcdogman had been so quickly incapacitated.

It didn't matter. Irregardless of whether or not it was Sensei, this was the best time to test his new combat abilities. He would defeat this new threat. Turning, he sped off into the distance.

Zombieman's POV

 _"Oh? Do you intend to challenge me? The weakest S-Class against somebody who has defeated some of your strongest?"_

The immortal sucked in another breath, mind racing. He had arrived just in time to see the Being no-sell a blow to the head from Watchdogman and kick him into the distance. And it was clear from the few ineffective blows he had managed to land that that was no fluke.

 _"That immortality sure is troublesome. Even if I tear you to shreds you'll just regenerate, with nothing to show for my efforts except for your clothes. Oh wells, maybe there's a limit. I'll have to test and see."_

Before he could blink his legs and arms were torn off, there was a massive hole in his chest, and most of his internal organs were now splattered over the streets.

 _"If only I didn't know that reducing you to mincemeat would kill you, I could just end it in one punch. Doesn't matter, you can't do anything anyway. For now, just sit here and watch out for any newcomers. Honestly, there's only one other person I can see coming here, but he probably won't be here so soo-"_

"Justice Crash!"

 **Mumen Rider's POV**

"Don't be crazy!" The C-Class ranked 1 struggled against his fellow Heroes as they tried to hold him back.

D-Pad wrapped his arm around his neck. "That thing just took down two S-Classes and destroying buildings in a single blow! We can't do anything against that! Just wait for the other S-Classes!"

"No! We have to do something!" Mumen tried to pry their hands off him, but it just lead to them grabbing on to his arms instead. "If we don't he'll destroy everything! Kill everyone!"

"Ending up as a blood stain won't help anyone!"

The ground trembled, and everyone collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Before the rest of them could regain their balance, he pushed himself to his feet and ran forward. He snatched up his bicycle frame, which he had stubbornly dragged along to be fixed later, and tossed it at the Monster.

"Mumen no!"

He gritted his teeth as he neared it. Even if this thing looked like, no, even if it was Saitama, he couldn't let himself get distracted. He had to defeat right here right now!

"Justice Tackle!" He lunged forward, but he knocked into it and crashed to the ground fruitlessly. Undeterred, he sprang to his feet.

"Justice Kick! Justice Punch!" He aimed his blows at the creature's stomach and ribs, but it was like hitting a wall, immovable and painful.

"Justice Tackle!" To his surprise, the Mysterious Being actually took a few steps backwards this time.

"Justice Punch!"

The glow flickered. Was… was he beating it?

The Being sighed, and placed its hands on his collarbones.

 _"Before we end, I would just like to express my deepest condolences. Do not worry, I will personally ensure that your legacy will be remembered. Farewell."_

And the Being pushed him back, his last feelings being his body crumpling against the rubble behind.

 **Saitama's POV**

The B-Class's eyes snapped open.

What the fuck?

Mumen Rider was in front of him, enormous shards of concrete jutting from his chest, unmoving, massive pools of his blood pooling around his feet.

He gaped in shock, tentatively reaching out. "Mumen?"

Something clinked against the ground. He looked down, and to his shock Geno's faceplate was there as well, buried within the rubble, itself stained black and red.

 _You did this._

"What?"

 _You killed them._

"Me? I-I couldn't have, how…"

Spots danced in front of his eyes, and a hand burst out of his forehead and pushed on his face. Just before he blacked out, he heard a man scream for him.

 **Zombieman's POV**

I need to… get up. The immortal pushed himself to his feet. The tendons within had yet to grow back, but it didn't matter. I need to… blinding flashes of multicolored light filled his vision.

Wha- what was happening to that bald man?

A sonic boom echoed through the streets, and a cyborg crashed landed.

Demon Cyborg?

"Sensei!"

"Arrrggghhhhh!" Multiple limbs erupted from his head, and with a burst of light the unkillable S-Class was sent flying backwards.

Out of the smoke crawled a transparent bald man, shining an assortment of colours, with no Caped Baldy in sight. It threw its head back and screeched.

 _"I'm free!"_

 **Geno's POV**

The Demon Cyborg regarded the scene in front of him in horror. Mumen Rider impaled, Zombieman reduced to mush, and his Sensei's attacker whole, with his Sensei nowhere in sight. Frantic, he scanned for his Sensei's life signal.

Scan result: Negative

"What… what have you done to Sensei?"

The Monster brushed something off its shoulder. It looked exactly like Sensei, only with horrific scarring across his face, fire damage in large patches across his suit and short, spiky hair across his scalp. _"Oh, I simply sent him far, far, far away. Rest assured, when this is all over, I'll find his body and bury it."_

"What have you done to him!"

The Monster casually kicked Zombieman into the distance, before turning back to him.

 _"Did you ever wonder why I could only possess your Sensei when he was asleep, and even then not fully? There is something Saitama has that nobody on Earth has, his indomitable willpower, coupled with his near-limitless strength. Even against the mind defences of the psychics like Fubuki or Psykos, or against the immense power of Orochi or Tornado, I could have possessed any of them with ease. In fact, I would have possessed them, if Blast wasn't such a suitable host for so long."_

Blast? The S-Class ranked 1?

 _"Well, that's all in the past. All that's important is that Saitama was too strong to possess. To take him would require either weakening his strength or his will. For a while the only way to do either was for him to sleep, removing his conscious defenses and allowing me to tap into a mere trickle of the vast ocean of strength he had. Even then it wasn't much, I couldn't kill, I couldn't do anything too difficult, I couldn't even use my other stockpiled powers."_ The Mysterious Being twirled his fingers, and trails of fire and wind swirled around him. " _True, most of them are pointless with him, but it would have been nice to still be able to fly."_

 _"Until now. Your Sensei is far from as stoic as he believes himself to be. Well, maybe I have you and Mr King to thank. When I told him that he was the one who killed both you and Mumen Rider he was shocked, horrified. He may not have shown it, but to me, who felt his every emotion, he may as well have been weeping. And in that moment, when his mental defences were down, I struck."_

It spread its arms out in a gesture supposed to be grandeur. _"I am Saitama now, Genos. When I escaped him I permanently gave up my power to leap between bodies. In exchange I have absorbed all of his power._

"How do I get him back?"

 _"Saitama's gone Genos."_

"How do I GET HIM BACK!"

 _"He's gone, forever. Another victim which you failed to save."_

"Arrgggghhhh!" The S-Class burst forward, using his rockets in his elbow and feet to smash a fist into the monster's chest, who simply slid back several meters, unperturbed. He flew into the air and burst down, cracking the street in a hundred meter radius but missing the Being, before charging his cannons.

"Maximum Power! 100%!" He didn't care if he was going to kill himself while doing it, he was going to avenge his Sensei.

 _"Genos, why are you attacking me? You don't want to weaken me now, especially not with what I'm about to do."_

His guns faltered. What was the Being going to do? What could it possibly do that could make what it did excusable? Spare it his wrath? Whatever, it didn't matter, it was a trick! He was going to kill it! His guns hummed as he powered them up. However, despite this the Mysterious Being turned around and walked away not caring if he replied, only giving him a parting backwards glance.

 _"I'm going to destroy the Monster Association."_


End file.
